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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1027 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1027

 To provide for the carriage by satellite carriers of local broadcast 
                station signals, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 1999

  Mr. Coble introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To provide for the carriage by satellite carriers of local broadcast 
                station signals, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Satellite Television Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(6)'' and 
                inserting ``(5)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking
            ``(2) Network stations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to the provisions of 
                subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph and 
                paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6)''
                         and inserting
            ``(2) Network stations.--Subject to the provisions of 
        paragraphs (3), (4), and (5)'' and running in the remaining 
        text of the subparagraph; and
                            (ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C);
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``, or has failed 
                to make the submissions to networks required by 
                paragraph (2)(C)''; and
                    (D) by striking paragraphs (5), (8), (9), and (10) 
                and redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs 
                (5) and (6), respectively; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs (10) and 
        (11).

SEC. 3. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

    Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming 
distributor shall retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or 
any part thereof, except--
            ``(A) with the express authority of the station;
            ``(B) pursuant to section 614, in the case of a station 
        electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the 
        right to carriage under such section; or
            ``(C) pursuant to section 337, in the case of a station 
        electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the 
        right to carriage under such section.
    ``(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to--
            ``(A) retransmission of the signal of a noncommercial 
        broadcasting station;
            ``(B) retransmission of the signal of a superstation by a 
        satellite carrier to subscribers for private home viewing if 
        the originating station was a superstation on May 1, 1991;
            ``(C) retransmission of the signal of a broadcasting 
        station that is owned or operated by, or affiliated with, a 
        broadcasting network directly to a home satellite antenna, if 
        the household receiving the signal is located in an area in 
        which such station may not assert its rights not to have its 
        signal duplicated under the Commission's network nonduplication 
        regulations; or
            ``(D) retransmission by a cable operator or other 
        multichannel video programming distributor of the signal of a 
        superstation if such signal was obtained from a satellite 
        carrier and the originating station was a superstation on May 
        1, 1991.'';
            (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the following new 
        subparagraph:
    ``(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of the Satellite 
Television Improvement Act, the Commission shall commence a rulemaking 
proceeding to revise the regulations governing the exercise by 
television broadcast stations of the right to grant retransmission 
consent under this subsection, and such other regulations as are 
necessary to administer the limitation contained in paragraph (2). Such 
regulations shall establish election time periods that correspond with 
those regulations adopted under subparagraph (B). The rulemaking shall 
be completed within 180 days after the effective date of the Satellite 
Television Improvement Act.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(7) For purposes of this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `superstation' means a television broadcast 
        station, other than a network station, licensed by the 
        Commission that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite 
        carrier.
            ``(B) The term `satellite carrier' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code.''.

SEC. 4. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RETRANSMITTING TELEVISION 
              BROADCAST SIGNALS.

    Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting 
after section 336 the following new section:

``SEC. 337. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.

    ``(a) Carriage Obligations.--Each satellite carrier providing 
direct to home service of a television broadcast station to subscribers 
located within the local market of such station shall, not later than 
January 1, 2002, carry all television broadcast stations located within 
that local market. Carriage of additional television broadcast stations 
within the local market shall be at the discretion of the satellite 
carrier, subject to section 325(b).
    ``(b) Good Signal Required.--
            ``(1) Costs.--A television broadcast station eligible for 
        carriage under subsection (a) shall be required to bear the 
        costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the 
        designated local receive facility of the satellite carrier. The 
        selection of a local receive facility by a satellite carrier 
        shall not be made in a manner that frustrates the purposes of 
        this section.
            ``(2) Regulations.--The regulations issued under subsection 
        (g) shall set forth the obligations necessary to carry out this 
        subsection.
    ``(c) Duplication Not Required.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 
satellite carrier shall not be required to carry the signal of any 
local television broadcast station that substantially duplicates the 
signal of another local television broadcast station which is 
secondarily transmitted by the satellite carrier, or to carry the 
signals of more that one local television broadcast station affiliated 
with a particular broadcast network (as the term is defined by 
regulation).
    ``(d) Channel Positioning.--Each signal carried in fulfillment of 
the carriage obligations of a satellite carrier under this section 
shall be carried on the satellite carrier channel number on which the 
local television broadcast station is broadcast over the air, or on the 
channel on which it was broadcast on January 1, 1985, or on the channel 
it was broadcast on January 1, 1998, at the election of the station, or 
on such other channel number as is mutually agreed upon by the station 
and the satellite carrier. Any dispute regarding the positioning of 
local television broadcast stations shall be resolved by the 
Commission.
    ``(e) Compensation for Carriage.--A satellite carrier shall not 
accept or request monetary payment or other valuable consideration in 
exchange either for carriage of local television broadcast stations in 
fulfillment of the requirements of this section or for channel 
positioning rights provided to such stations under this section, except 
that any such station may be required to bear the costs associated with 
delivering a good quality signal to the principal headend of the 
satellite carrier.
    ``(f) Remedies.--
            ``(1) Complaints by broadcast stations.--Whenever a local 
        television broadcast station believes that a satellite carrier 
        has failed to meet its obligations under this section, such 
        station shall notify the carrier, in writing, of the alleged 
        failure and identify its reasons for believing that the 
        satellite carrier is obligated to carry the signal of such 
        station or has otherwise failed to comply with the channel 
        positioning or repositioning or other requirements of this 
        section. The satellite carrier shall, within 30 days of such 
written notification, respond in writing to such notification and 
either commence to carry the signal of such station in accordance with 
the terms requested or state its reasons for believing that it is not 
obligated to carry such signal or is in compliance with the channel 
positioning and repositioning or other requirements of this section. A 
local television broadcast station that is denied carriage or channel 
positioning or repositioning in accordance with this section by a 
satellite carrier may obtain review of such denial by filing a 
complaint with the Commission. Such complaint shall allege the manner 
in which such satellite carrier has failed to meet its obligations and 
the basis for such allegations.
            ``(2) Opportunity to respond.--The Commission shall afford 
        such satellite carrier and opportunity to present data and 
        arguments to establish that there has been no failure to meet 
its obligations under this section.
            ``(3) Remedial actions; dismissal.--Within 120 days after 
        the date a complaint is filed, the Commission shall determine 
        whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations under 
        this section. If the Commission determines that the satellite 
        carrier has failed to meet such obligations, the Commission 
        shall order the satellite carrier to reposition the complaining 
        station or, in the case of an obligation to carry a station, to 
        commence carriage of the station and to continue such carriage 
        for at least 12 months. If the Commission determines that the 
        satellite carrier has fully met the requirements of this 
        section, it shall dismiss the complaint.
    ``(g) Regulations by Commission.--Within 180 days after the 
effective date of this section, the Commission shall, following a 
rulemaking proceeding, issue regulations implementing the requirements 
imposed by this section.
    ``(h) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) Television broadcast station.--The term `television 
        broadcast station' means a full-power television broadcast 
        station, and does not include a low-power or translator 
        television broadcast station.
            ``(2) Local market.--The term `local market' means the 
        designated market area in which a station is located and--
                    ``(A) for a commercial television broadcast station 
                located in any of the 150 largest designated market 
                areas, all commercial television broadcast stations 
                licensed to a community within the same designated 
                market area are within the same local market;
                    ``(B) for a commercial television broadcast station 
                that is located in a designated market area that is not 
                one of the 150 largest, the local market includes, in 
                addition to all commercial television broadcast 
                stations licensed to a community within the same 
                designated market area, any station that is 
                significantly viewed, as such term is defined in 
                section 76.54 of the Commission's regulations (47 
                C.F.R. 76.54); and
                    ``(C) for a noncommercial educational television 
                broadcast station, the local market includes any 
                station that is licensed to a community within the same 
                designated market area as the noncommercial educational 
                television broadcast station.
            ``(3) Designated market area.--The term `designated market 
        area' means a designated market area, as determined by the 
        Nielsen Media Research and published in the DMA Market and 
        Demographic Report.''.

SEC. 5. NETWORK NONDUPLICATION; SYNDICATED EXCLUSIVITY AND SPORTS 
              BLACKOUT.

    (a) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--Within 45 days after the effective date of 
        this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall commence 
        a rulemaking to establish regulations that apply network 
        nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity protection, 
        and sports blackout protection to the retransmission of 
        broadcast signals by satellite carriers to subscribers. To the 
        extent possible, such regulations shall, subject to paragraph 
        (2), include the same level of protection accorded 
        retransmissions of television broadcast signals by cable 
        systems for network nonduplication (47 C.F.R. 76.92), 
        syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 151), and sports blackout (47 
        C.F.R. 76.67).
            (2) Network nonduplication.--The network nonduplication 
        regulations required under paragraph (1) shall allow a 
        television broadcast station to assert nonduplication rights--
                    (A) against a satellite carrier throughout that 
                station's local market if that satellite carrier is 
                providing retransmissions of television signals in that 
                market to subscribers of another television broadcast 
                station located within that local market; or
                    (B) against a satellite carrier in the geographic 
                area in which the signal of that television broadcast 
                station is of Grade B intensity based upon the 
                Individually Located Longley-Rice methodology described 
                by the Federal Communications Commission in its Docket 
                No. 98-201, but such geographic area shall not extend 
                beyond the local market of such station.
            (3) Waivers.--(A) the network nonduplication protection 
        described in paragraph (2)(b) shall not apply to a subscriber 
        located in the geographic area that is identified by the 
        Individually Located Longley-Rice methodology described by the 
        Federal Communications Commission in its Docket No. 98-201 who 
        files with the satellite carrier a written waiver obtained from 
the network station whose local market is in that geographic area, 
allowing the subscriber to receive satellite service of another network 
station affiliated with that same network. The local network station 
and the satellite carrier shall maintain a file available to the public 
that contains such waiver.
            (B) If a subscriber within the local market of a network 
        station petitions the Federal Communications Commission with 
        the written findings and conclusions of a test conducted in 
        accordance with the provisions of section 73.686(d) of title 
        47, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on March 1, 1999, 
        demonstrating that the subscriber does not receive an over-the-
        air signal of the network station of Grade B intensity, the 
        network station shall have 30 days in which to file with the 
        Commission an objection to the petition. If the network station 
        does not file a timely objection, then the station may not 
        assert network nonduplication protection described in paragraph 
        (2)(B) against that subscriber. If the station does file a 
        timely objection, then the Commission shall have 120 days in 
        which to determine the sufficiency of the subscriber's 
        petition. If the Commission determines that the petition is 
        sufficient, then The network nonduplication protection 
        described in paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to that 
        subscriber.
            (4) Local market defined.--The term ``local market'' has 
        the meaning provided in section 337(h) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934, as added by section 3 of this Act.
    (b) Deferred Applicability of Amendments to Section 119 of Title 
17, United States Code.--Notwithstanding the amendments to section 119 
of title 17, United States Code, made by this Act, until the 
regulations regarding network nonduplication protection are established 
under subsection (a), the statutory license under subsection (a) of 
such section 119 for secondary transmissions of primary transmissions 
of programming contained in a primary transmission made by a network 
station (as defined in section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code, 
as in effect on the day before the effective date of this Act) shall be 
limited to secondary transmissions to persons who reside in unserved 
households (as defined in section 119(d) of title 17, United States 
Code, as in effect on the day before the effective date of this Act).

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
July 1, 1999.
                                 <all>
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