[Satellite TODAY 09-30-10] U.S. satellite pay-TV operator DirecTV spent $1.17 million in its 2011 fiscal second quarter to lobby the U.S. federal government on a variety of broadcasting issues, marking the second straight quarter that the company has increased its lobbying fund compared with the same period in 2010, the company said in a Sept. 29 disclosure report.

   DirecTV spent $1.28 million to support lobbying efforts in the 2011 first quarter, compared with the relatively flat $1 million it spent in each quarter of 2010. The lobbying issues DirecTV were involved with included reforming rules for resolving disputes between pay TV signal providers and local TV stations. The issue focuses on local stations that are charging distributors for permission to retransmit their feeds.

   DirecTV also lobbied the government about the availability of set-top boxes, and stated that between April and June of 2011, the operator lobbied both houses of Congress, according to the report.