I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3496 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, United States 

Code, to provide greater access to in-State television broadcast programming for cable and satellite subscribers in certain counties. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 

Mr. DUFFY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, 

United States Code, to provide greater access to inState television broadcast programming for cable and 

satellite subscribers in certain counties. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Granting Our People 

5 the Ability to Cheer Kickoff Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘GO 

6 PACK Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CARRIAGE OF NETWORK STATION SIGNALS IN CER2 TAIN COUNTIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu4 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 343. CARRIAGE OF NETWORK STATION SIGNALS IN 

7 CERTAIN COUNTIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) SUBSCRIBER ELECTION.—A cable operator or 

9 satellite carrier shall, at the election of a subscriber in a 

10 covered county with respect to a television network, pro11 vide to such subscriber— 

12 ‘‘(1) retransmission of the signal of any local 

13 network station that such operator or carrier is re14 quired to retransmit to such subscriber without re15 gard to this section; 

16 ‘‘(2) an in-State, adjacent-market network sta17 tion retransmission; or 

18 ‘‘(3) both such retransmissions. 

19 ‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO LOCAL SIGNAL CARRIAGE

20 REQUIREMENTS.—If a subscriber elects to receive only an 

21 in-State, adjacent-market network station retransmission 

22 under subsection (a)— 

23 ‘‘(1) the provision of such retransmission to 

24 such subscriber shall be deemed to fulfill any obliga25 tion of the cable operator or satellite carrier to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Sep 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3496.IH H3496

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1 vide to such subscriber the signal of a local network 

2 station under section 338, 614, or 615; and 

3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a satellite carrier that has 

4 been recognized as a qualified carrier under section 

5 119(g) of title 17, United States Code, the provision 

6 of such retransmission instead of the signal of a 

7 local network station shall not affect the status of 

8 the satellite carrier as a qualified carrier for pur9 poses of such section and section 342 of this Act. 

10 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT SUBJECT TO TECHNICAL FEASI11 BILITY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A satellite carrier is 

12 required to provide a retransmission under subsection (a) 

13 only to the extent that such provision is technically fea14 sible, as determined by the Commission. 

15 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET

16 NETWORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS BY CABLE OPER17 ATORS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT EXCEPTION.— 

19 Section 325(b) shall not apply to an in-State, adja20 cent-market network station retransmission by a 

21 cable operator to a subscriber residing in a covered 

22 county. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEEMED SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED.—In the 

24 case of an in-State, adjacent-market network station 

25 retransmission by a cable operator to a subscriber 


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1 residing in a covered county, the signal of such sta2 tion is deemed to be significantly viewed in such 

3 county within the meaning of section 76.54 of the 

4 Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 76.54). 

5 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘local network station’ means, 

7 with respect to a subscriber and a television net8 work, the network station— 

9 ‘‘(A) that is affiliated with such television 

10 network; and 

11 ‘‘(B) within the local market of which such 

12 subscriber is located; 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘cable operator’ has the meaning 

14 given such term in section 602; 

15 ‘‘(3) the terms ‘network station’ and ‘satellite 

16 carrier’ have the meanings given such terms in sec17 tion 119(d) of title 17, United States Code; 

18 ‘‘(4) the terms ‘covered county’ and ‘in-State, 

19 adjacent-market network station retransmission’ 

20 have the meanings given such terms in section 

21 119(d) of title 17, United States Code, except that, 

22 in the case of a cable operator, any reference to a 

23 satellite carrier or a subscriber of a satellite carrier 

24 shall be considered to be a reference to a cable operVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Sep 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3496.IH H3496

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1 ator or a subscriber of a cable operator, respectively; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(5) the term ‘local market’ has the meaning 

4 given such term in section 122(j) of title 17, United 

5 States Code.’’. 

6 (b) TREATMENT OF IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET

7 NETWORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE

8 CARRIERS.—Section 339 of the Communications Act of 

9 1934 (47 U.S.C. 339) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by adding at the 

12 end the following: ‘‘In-State, adjacent-market 

13 network station retransmissions to subscribers 

14 residing in covered counties shall not count to15 ward the limit set forth in this subparagraph.’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(I) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NET20 WORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS.—Nothing in 

21 this paragraph shall apply to or affect in-State, 

22 adjacent-market network station retrans23 missions to subscribers residing in covered 

24 counties.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(6) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NETWORK

4 STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad5 jacent-market network station retransmission’ has 

6 the meaning given such term in section 119(d) of 

7 title 17, United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(7) COVERED COUNTY.—The term ‘covered 

9 county’ has the meaning given such term in section 

10 119(d) of title 17, United States Code.’’. 

11 (c) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO RECEIVE SIGNIFI12 CANTLY VIEWED SIGNALS.—Section 340(b)(3) of the 

13 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 340(b)(3)) is 

14 amended by inserting before the period at the end the fol15 lowing: ‘‘or to a subscriber who elects under section 

16 343(a), with respect to the network with which the station 

17 whose signal is being retransmitted pursuant to this sec18 tion is affiliated, to receive an in-State, adjacent-market 

19 network station retransmission (as defined in section 

20 119(d) of title 17, United States Code) instead of the sig21 nal of a local network station (as defined in section 

22 343(e))’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF COPYRIGHT LICENSE. 

2 (a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF DISTANT TELE3 VISION PROGRAMMING BY SATELLITE.—Section 119 of 

4 title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by adding at 

7 the end the following: ‘‘In-State, adjacent-mar8 ket network station retransmissions to sub9 scribers residing in covered counties shall not 

10 count toward the limit set forth in this clause.’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 

13 end the following new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(G) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NET15 WORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS.—Nothing in 

16 this paragraph shall apply to or affect in-State, 

17 adjacent-market network station retrans18 missions to subscribers residing in covered 

19 counties.’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (d)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (10)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

23 ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

25 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

26 and 


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1 (iii) by inserting at the end the fol2 lowing new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(F) with respect to an in-State, adjacent4 market network station retransmission, is a 

5 subscriber residing in a covered county.’’; and 

6 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

7 new paragraphs: 

8 ‘‘(16) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NETWORK

9 STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad10 jacent-market network station retransmission’ means 

11 the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of 

12 the primary transmission of any network station 

13 whose community of license is located— 

14 ‘‘(A) in a subscriber’s State; and 

15 ‘‘(B) in a local market that is adjacent to 

16 the subscriber’s local market. 

17 ‘‘(17) COVERED COUNTY.—The term ‘covered 

18 county’ means, with respect to an in-State, adjacent19 market network station retransmission to a sub20 scriber, any county to which both of the following 

21 apply: 

22 ‘‘(A) The county is one of the following 

23 counties in the State of Wisconsin: Barron, 

24 Burnett, Dunn, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix, or 

25 Washburn. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The county is not in the local market 

2 of any television broadcast station that is affili3 ated with the same network and whose commu4 nity of license is located in the subscriber’s 

5 State.’’. 

6 (b) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF LOCAL TELE7 VISION PROGRAMMING BY SATELLITE.—Section 122(a) of 

8 title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting after 

10 ‘‘under paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘(or in-State, 

11 adjacent-market network station retransmissions in12 stead of secondary transmissions under such para13 graph, in accordance with an election under section 

14 343(a) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting after 

16 ‘‘under paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘(or in-State, 

17 adjacent-market network station retransmissions in18 stead of secondary transmissions under such para19 graph, in accordance with an election under section 

20 343(a) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’. 

Æ 


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