II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1189

To require the Federal Communications Commission to amend its daily

newspaper cross-ownership rules, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 17, 2001

Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commission to

amend its daily newspaper cross-ownership rules, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FCC DAILY NEWSPAPER CROSS-OWNERSHIP

4 RULE.

5 (a) IMMEDIATE REVIEW.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communica7 tions Commission shall modify section 73.3555(d) of

8 its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555(d)) to provide for

9 the immediate review of a license for any AM, FM,
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1 or TV broadcast station held by any party (including

2 all parties under common control) that acquires di3 rect or indirect ownership, operation, or control of a

4 daily newspaper.

5 (2) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—The modification

6 under paragraph (1) shall require that any licensee

7 covered by that paragraph notify the Committee of

8 the acquisition of the ownership, operation, or con9 trol of a daily newspaper upon the acquisition of

10 such ownership, operation, or control.

11 (b) REMEDIAL ACTION.—The Commission shall fur12 ther modify section 73.3555(d) of its regulations (47

13 C.F.R. 73.3555(d)) to require modification or revocation

14 of the license, or divestiture of such ownership, operation,

15 or control of the daily newspaper, unless the Commission

16 determines that direct or indirect ownership, operation, or

17 control of the daily newspaper by that party will not cause

18 a result described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of that

19 section.

20 (c) 6-MONTH DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.—Under

21 the regulations as modified under subsection (b), if the

22 Commission does not make a determination described in

23 subsection (b), the Commission shall require the modifica24 tion, revocation, or divestiture to be completed not later

25 than the earlier of—
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1 (1) the date that is 180 days after the date on

2 which the Commission issues the order requiring the

3 modification, revocation, or divestiture; or

4 (2) the date by which the Commission’s regula5 tions require the license to be renewed.

6 (d) APPLICATION TO EXISTING ARRANGEMENTS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In applying its regulations,

8 as modified pursuant to this section, to any license

9 for an AM, FM, or TV broadcast station that is held

10 on the date of the enactment of this Act by a party

11 that also, as of that date, has direct or indirect own12 ership, operation, or control of a daily newspaper,

13 the Commission—

14 (A) may grant a permanent or temporary

15 waiver from the modification, revocation, or di16 vestiture requirements of the modified regula17 tion if the Commission determines that the

18 waiver is consistent with the principles of com19 petition, diversity, and localism in the public in20 terest; and

21 (B) shall not apply the modified regulation

22 so as to require modification, revocation, or di23 vestiture in circumstances in which section

24 73.3555(d) of the Commission’s regulations (47
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1 C.F.R. 73.3555(d)) does not apply because of

2 Note 4 to that section.

3 (2) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—A licensee of a

4 license described by paragraph (1) shall notify the

5 Commission not later than 30 days after the date of

6 the enactment of this Act that the license is covered

7 by paragraph (1).

8 SEC. 2. REVIEW BASED ON TRANSACTIONS.

9 The Federal Communications Commission shall fur10 ther modify section 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R.

11 73.3555) so that the Commission will determine compli12 ance with section 73.3555(d) of its regulations, as modi13 fied by the Commission pursuant to section 1 of this Act,

14 whenever a party (including all parties under common con15 trol)—

16 (1) that holds a license for an AM, FM, or TV

17 broadcast station acquires direct or indirect owner18 ship, operation, or control of a daily newspaper; or

19 (2) that directly or indirectly owns, operates, or

20 controls a daily newspaper acquires a license for an

21 AM, FM, or TV broadcast station.
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1 SEC. 3. FCC TO JUSTIFY REPEAL OR MODIFICATION OF

2 REGULATIONS UNDER REGULATORY RE3 FORM.

4 Section 11 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

5 U.S.C. 161) is amended—

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub7 section (c); and

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol9 lowing new subsection (b):

10 ‘‘(b) RELAXATION OR ELIMINATION OF MEDIA OWN11 ERSHIP RULES.—If, as a result of a review under sub12 section (a)(1), the Commission makes a determination

13 under subsection (a)(2) with respect to its regulations gov14 erning multiple ownership (47 C.F.R. 73.3555), then not

15 less than 18 months before the proposed repeal or modi16 fication under subsection (c) is to take effect, the Commis17 sion shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce,

18 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com19 mittee on Commerce of the House of Representatives—

20 ‘‘(1) a statement of the proposed repeal or

21 modification; and

22 ‘‘(2) an explanation of the basis for its deter23 mination, including an explanation of how the pro24 posed repeal or modification is expected to promote

25 competition, diversity, and localism in the public in26 terest.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. DEADLINE FOR MODIFICATION OF REGULATIONS.

2 The Federal Communications Commission shall com3 plete the modifications of its regulations required by sec4 tions 1 and 2 of this Act not later than 1 year after the

5 date of the enactment of this Act.

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