Calendar No. 120

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 303

[Report No. 106–51]

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enother purposes. fectively with cable television systems, and for other multichannel video providers to compete ef- hance the ability of direct broadcast satellite and

MAY 20, 1999

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 120

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 303

[Report No. 106–51]

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance the ability of direct

broadcast satellite and other multichannel video providers to compete

effectively with cable television systems, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 25, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. BURNS, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. ROTH) introduced

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

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

MAY 20, 1999

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance the

ability of direct broadcast satellite and other multichannel video providers to compete effectively with cable

television systems, 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,
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1 SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Television Act

3 of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) In the Cable Television Consumer Protec7 tion and Competition Act of 1992, Congress stated

8 its policy of promoting competition in cable services

9 and making available to the public a diversity of

10 views and information through cable television and

11 other video media.

12 (2) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996,

13 Congress stated its policy of securing lower prices

14 and higher quality service for American tele15 communications consumers and encouraging the

16 rapid deployment of new telecommunications tech17 nologies.

18 (3) In most places throughout America, cable

19 television system operators still do not face effective

20 competition from other providers of multichannel

21 video service.

22 (4) Absent effective competition, the market

23 power exercised by cable television operators enables

24 them to raise the price of cable service to consumers,

25 and to control the price and availability of cable pro26 gramming services to other multichannel video serv-
3

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1 ice providers. Current Federal Communications

2 Commission rules have been inadequate in con3 straining cable price increases.

4 (5) Direct Broadcast Satellite service has over

5 8 million subscribers and constitutes the most sig6 nificant competitive alternative to cable television

7 service.

8 (6) Direct Broadcast Satellite Service currently

9 suffers from a number of statutory, regulatory, and

10 technical barriers that keep it from being an effec11 tive competitor to cable television in the provision of

12 multichannel video services.

13 (7) The most prominent of these barriers is the

14 inability to provide subscribers with local television

15 broadcast signals by satellite.

16 (8) Permitting providers of direct broadcast

17 satellite service to retransmit local television signals

18 to their subscribers would greatly enhance the ability

19 of direct broadcast satellite service to compete more

20 effectively in the provision of multichannel video

21 services.

22 (9) Due to capacity limitations and in the inter23 est of providing service in as many markets as pos24 sible, providers of direct broadcast satellite service,

25 unlike cable television systems, cannot at this time
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1 carry all local television broadcast signals in all the

2 local television markets they seek to serve.

3 (10) It would be in the public interest for pro4 viders of direct broadcast satellite service to fully

5 comply with the mandatory signal carriage rules at

6 the earliest possible date. In the interim, requiring

7 full compliance with the mandatory signal carriage

8 rules would substantially limit the ability of direct

9 broadcast satellite service providers to compete in

10 the provision of multichannel video services and

11 would not serve the public interest.

12 (11) Maintaining the viability of free, over-the13 air local television service is a matter of preeminent

14 public interest.

15 (12) All subscribers to multichannel video serv16 ices should be able to receive the signal of at least

17 one station affiliated with each of the major broad18 cast television networks.

19 (13) Millions of subscribers to direct broadcast

20 satellite service currently receive the signals of net21 work-affiliated stations not located in these sub22 scribers’ local television markets. In those cases

23 where cable service is not available and where con24 ventional rooftop antennas are not effective distant
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1 network signals may be these subscribers’ only

2 source of network television service.

3 (14) There is a direct link between the wide4 spread carriage of distant network stations in local

5 network affiliates’ markets and a local affiliate’s loss

6 of audience share and revenues, which could in turn

7 harm the station’s ability to serve its local commu8 nity.

9 (15) Abrupt termination of satellite carriers’

10 provision of distant network signals could have a

11 negative impact on the ability of direct broadcast

12 satellite service to compete effectively in the provi13 sion of multichannel video services.

14 (16) The public interest would be served by per15 mitting direct broadcast satellite service providers to

16 continue existing carriage of a distant network affil17 iate station’s signal where—

18 (A) there is no local network affiliate;

19 (B) the local network affiliate cannot be

20 adequately received off-air; or

21 (C) continued carriage would not be likely

22 to materially harm local television service.

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

24 The purpose of this Act is to permit subscribers of

25 Direct Broadcast Satellite service who currently receive
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1 distant network stations to continue to receive this service

2 to the extent that the Federal Communications Commis3 sion affirmatively finds that no local station would be like4 ly to sustain audience and revenue loss that would materi5 ally affect that station’s ability to continue to serve its

6 local audience.

7 SEC. 4. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE8 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG9 NALS.

10 Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934

11 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

12 thereof the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 337. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY

14 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to

16 promote competition in the provision of multichannel video

17 services while protecting the availability of free, over-the18 air television, particularly for the 40 percent of American

19 television households that do not subscribe to any multi20 channel video programming service, by—

21 ‘‘(1) enabling providers of direct broadcast serv22 ice to offer their subscribers the signals of local tele23 vision stations;

24 ‘‘(2) protecting the availability of free, over-the25 air television broadcasting by requiring satellite car-
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1 riers who rely on a compulsory copyright license to

2 carry all local stations; and

3 ‘‘(3) accommodating, for an interim period, the

4 inability of providers of direct broadcast service from

5 carrying all local signals in all local television mar6 kets they seek to serve.

7 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF MANDATORY CARRIAGE TO

8 SATELLITE CARRIERS.—The mandatory carriage provi9 sions of sections 614 and 615 of the Communications Act

10 will apply in a local market no later than January 1, 2002,

11 to satellite carriers retransmitting any television broadcast

12 station in that local market and pursuant to the compul13 sory license provided by section 122 of title 17, United

14 States Code.

15 ‘‘(c) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—A local television

16 broadcast station eligible for carriage under subsection (b)

17 may be required to bear the costs associated with deliv18 ering a good quality signal to the designated local receive

19 facility of the satellite carrier. The selection of a local re20 ceive facility by a satellite carrier shall not be made in

21 a manner that frustrates the purposes of this Act. The

22 Commission shall promulgate any regulations necessary to

23 assure that selection of local receive facilities is made in

24 compliance with the intent of this Act.

25 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—
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1 ‘‘(1) SINGLE RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The

2 Commission shall institute a single rulemaking, com3 pliant with subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5,

4 United States Code, to examine the extent to which

5 carriage of distant network stations already provided

6 to subscribers on March 1, 1998, may continue with7 out causing a projected loss of audience and revenue

8 of such magnitude as to cause material harm to the

9 viability of local stations.

10 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—As part of

11 the rulemaking required by this subsection, the

12 Commission shall determine whether the application

13 of network exclusivity, syndicated exclusivity, or

14 sports exclusivity rules to carriage of distant net15 work stations would serve the public interest.

16 ‘‘(3) TIMEFRAME.—The Commission shall com17 plete all actions necessary to prescribe regulations it

18 may adopt as a result of this rulemaking to be effec19 tive within 180 days after the enactment of the Sat20 ellite Television Act of 1999.

21 ‘‘(4) TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIRED.—Any regu22 lations adopted under this subsection must be adopt23 ed by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of

24 the members of the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN DBS SIGNALS.—Direct-to-home

2 satellite service providers may continue to carry the

3 signals of distant network stations without regard to

4 the provisions of this subsection in any situation in

5 which such carriage would be consistent with rules

6 adopted by the Commission in CS Docket 98–201.

7 ‘‘(e) CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM DIGITAL SIGNAL

8 CARRIAGE NOT COVERED.—Nothing in this section ap9 plies to the carriage of the digital signals of television

10 broadcast stations by cable television systems.

11 ‘‘(f) NO REMISSION OF LIABILITY.—No action taken

12 by the Commission pursuant to subsection (d) shall relieve

13 any person from any liability for any violation of title 17,

14 United States Code, or from the imposition of any remedy

15 therefor.

16 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

17 ‘‘(1) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

18 term ‘television broadcast station’ means a full

19 power local television broadcast station, but does not

20 include a low-power or translator television broad21 cast station.

22 ‘‘(2) BROADCASTING NETWORK.—The term

23 ‘broadcasting network’ means a television network in

24 the United States which offers an interconnected

25 program service on a regular basis for 15 or more
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1 hours per week to at least 25 affiliated broadcast

2 stations in 10 or more States.

3 ‘‘(3) NETWORK STATION.—The term ‘network

4 station’ means a television broadcast station that is

5 owned or operated by, or affiliated with, a broad6 casting network.

7 ‘‘(4) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’

8 means the designated market area in which a station

9 is located. For a noncommercial educational tele10 vision broadcast station, the local market includes

11 any station that is licensed to a community within

12 the same designated market area as the noncommer13 cial educational television broadcast station.

14 ‘‘(5) LOCAL RECEIVE FACILITY.—The term

15 ‘local receive facility’ means the reception point in

16 the local market of a television broadcast station or

17 in a market contiguous to the local market of a tele18 vision broadcast station at which a satellite carrier

19 initially receives the signal of the station for pur20 poses of transmission of such signals to the facility

21 which uplinks the signals to the carrier’s satellites

22 for secondary transmission to the satellite carrier’s

23 subscribers.
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1 ‘‘(6) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘satellite

2 carrier’ has the meaning given it by section 119(d)

3 of title 17, United States Code.’’.

4 SEC. 5. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

5 (a) AMENDMENT OF SECTION 325(b).—Section

6 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

7 325(b)) is amended striking the subsection designation

8 and paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video

10 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

11 broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except—

12 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the station;

13 or

14 ‘‘(B) pursuant to section 614 or section 615, in

15 the case of a station electing, in accordance with this

16 subsection, to assert the right to carriage under such

17 section.

18 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply

19 to—

20 ‘‘(A) retransmission of the signal of a television

21 broadcast station outside the station’s local market

22 by a satellite carrier directly to subscribers if—

23 ‘‘(i) such station was a superstation on

24 May 1, 1991; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was

2 transmitted under the compulsory license of

3 section 119 of title 17, United States Code, by

4 satellite carriers directly to at least 250,000

5 subscribers;

6 ‘‘(B) retransmission of the distant signal of a

7 broadcasting station that is owned or operated by, or

8 affiliated with, a broadcasting network directly to a

9 home satellite antenna, if the subscriber resides in

10 an unserved household; or

11 ‘‘(C) retransmission by a cable operator or

12 other multichannel video programming distributor

13 (other than by a satellite carrier direct to its sub14 scribers) of the signal of a television broadcast sta15 tion outside the station’s local market, if such signal

16 was obtained from a satellite carrier and—

17 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta18 tion on May 1, 1991; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the originating station was a network

20 station on December 31, 1997, and its signal

21 was retransmitted by a satellite carrier directly

22 to subscribers.

23 ‘‘(3) Any term used in this subsection that is defined

24 in section 337(h) of this Act has the meaning given to

25 it by that section.’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (a) take effect on January 1, 1999.

3 SEC. 6. DESIGNATED MARKET AREAS.

4 Nothing in this Act, or in the amendments made by

5 this Act, prevents the Federal Communications Commis6 sion from revising the listing of designated market areas

7 (as defined in this Act) or reassigning such areas if the

8 revision or reassignment is done in the same manner and

9 to the same extent as the Commission’s cable television

10 mandatory carriage rules provide.

11 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

12 If any provision of this Act or section 325(b) or 337

13 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b),

14 337), or the application of that provision to any person

15 or circumstance, is held by a court of competent jurisdic16 tion to violate any provision of the Constitution of the

17 United States, then the other provisions of that section,

18 and the application of that provision to other persons and

19 circumstances, shall not be affected.

20 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) TERMS DEFINED IN COMMUNICATIONS ACT

23 OF 1934.—Any term used in this Act that is defined

24 in section 337(h) of the Communications Act of
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1 1934, as added by section 4 of this Act, has the

2 meaning given to it by that section.

3 (7) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term

4 ‘‘designated market area’’ means a designated mar5 ket area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research

6 and published in the DMA Market and Demographic

7 Report.

8 SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

9 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Television Act

10 of 1999’’.

11 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

12 The Congress makes the following findings:

13 (1) In the Cable Television Consumer Protection

14 and Competition Act of 1992, Congress stated its pol15 icy of promoting competition in cable services and

16 making available to the public a diversity of views

17 and information through cable television and other

18 video media.

19 (2) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Con20 gress stated its policy of securing lower prices and

21 higher quality service for American telecommuni22 cations consumers and encouraging the rapid deploy23 ment of new telecommunications technologies.

24 (3) In most places throughout America, cable tel25 evision system operators still do not face effective
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1 competition from other providers of multichannel

2 video service.

3 (4) Absent effective competition, the market

4 power exercised by cable television operators enables

5 them to raise the price of cable service to consumers,

6 and to control the price and availability of cable pro7 gramming services to other multichannel video service

8 providers. Current Federal Communications Commis9 sion rules have been inadequate in constraining cable

10 price increases.

11 (5) Direct-to-home satellite service has over 8

12 million subscribers and constitutes the most signifi13 cant competitive alternative to cable television service.

14 (6) Direct-to-home satellite service currently suf15 fers from a number of statutory, regulatory, and tech16 nical barriers that keep it from being an effective

17 competitor to cable television in the provision of mul18 tichannel video services.

19 (7) The most prominent of these barriers is the

20 inability to provide subscribers with local television

21 broadcast signals by satellite.

22 (8) Permitting providers of direct-to-home sat23 ellite service to retransmit local television signals to

24 their subscribers would greatly enhance the ability of

25 direct-to-home satellite service providers to compete
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1 more effectively in the provision of multichannel video

2 services.

3 (9) Due to capacity limitations and in the inter4 est of providing service in as many markets as pos5 sible, providers of direct-to-home satellite service, un6 like cable television systems, cannot at this time carry

7 all local television broadcast signals in all the local

8 television markets they seek to serve.

9 (10) It would be in the public interest for pro10 viders of direct-to-home satellite service to fully com11 ply with the mandatory signal carriage rules at the

12 earliest possible date. In the interim, requiring full

13 compliance with the mandatory signal carriage rules

14 would substantially limit the ability of direct-to-home

15 satellite service providers to compete in the provision

16 of multichannel video services and would not serve the

17 public interest.

18 (11) Maintaining the viability of free, local,

19 over-the-air television service is a matter of pre20 eminent public interest.

21 (12) All subscribers to multichannel video serv22 ices should be able to receive the signal of at least one

23 station affiliated with each of the major broadcast tel24 evision networks.
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1 (13) Millions of subscribers to direct-to-home sat2 ellite service currently receive the signals of network3 affiliated stations not located in these subscribers’

4 local television markets. Where conventional rooftop

5 antennas cannot provide satisfactory reception of

6 local stations, distant network signals may be these

7 subscribers’ only source of network television service.

8 (14) The widespread carriage of distant network

9 stations in local network affiliates’ markets could

10 harm the local stations’ ability to serve their local

11 community.

12 (15) Abrupt termination of satellite carriers’

13 provision of distant network signals could have a neg14 ative impact on the ability of direct-to-home satellite

15 service to compete effectively in the provision of mul16 tichannel video services.

17 (16) The public interest would be served by per18 mitting direct-to-home satellite service providers to

19 continue existing carriage of a distant network affil20 iate station’s signal where—

21 (A) there is no local network affiliate;

22 (B) the local network affiliate cannot be

23 adequately received off-air; or

24 (C) continued carriage would not harm the

25 local network station.
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

2 The purpose of this Act is to promote competition in

3 the provision of multichannel video services while protecting

4 the availability of free, local, over-the-air television, par5 ticularly for the 22 percent of American television house6 holds that do not subscribe to any multichannel video pro7 gramming service.

8 SEC. 4. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE9 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG10 NALS.

11 Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934

12 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

13 thereof the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 338. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS BY

15 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

16 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION OF MANDATORY CARRIAGE TO SAT17 ELLITE CARRIERS.—The mandatory carriage provisions of

18 sections 614 and 615 of this Act will apply in a local mar19 ket no later than January 1, 2002, to satellite carriers re20 transmitting any television broadcast station in that local

21 market pursuant to the compulsory license provided by sec22 tion 122 of title 17, United States Code.

23 ‘‘(b) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—

24 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—A television broadcast station eli25 gible for carriage under subsection (a) may be re26 quired to bear the costs associated with delivering a
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1 good quality signal to the designated local receive fa2 cility of the satellite carrier. The selection of a local

3 receive facility by a satellite carrier shall not be made

4 in a manner that frustrates the purposes of this Act.

5 The Commission shall implement the requirements of

6 this section without imposing any undue economic

7 burden on any party.

8 ‘‘(2) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The Commission

9 shall adopt rules implementing paragraph (1) within

10 180 days after the date of enactment of the Satellite

11 Television Act of 1999.

12 ‘‘(c) CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM DIGITAL SIGNAL

13 CARRIAGE NOT COVERED.—Nothing in this section applies

14 to the carriage of the digital signals of television broadcast

15 stations by cable television systems.

16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

17 ‘‘(1) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

18 term ‘television broadcast station’ means a full power

19 local television broadcast station, but does not include

20 a low-power or translator television broadcast station.

21 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATION.—The term ‘network

22 station’ means a television broadcast station that is

23 owned or operated by, or affiliated with, a broad24 casting network.
20

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1 ‘‘(3) BROADCASTING NETWORK.—The term

2 ‘broadcasting network’ means a television network in

3 the United States which offers an interconnected pro4 gram service on a regular basis for 15 or more hours

5 per week to at least 25 affiliated broadcast stations in

6 10 or more States.

7 ‘‘(4) DISTANT TELEVISION STATION.—The term

8 ‘distant television station’ means any television

9 broadcast station that is not licensed and operating

10 on a channel regularly assigned to the local television

11 market in which a subscriber to a direct-to-home sat12 ellite service is located.

13 ‘‘(5) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’

14 means the designated market area in which a station

15 is located. For a noncommercial educational tele16 vision broadcast station, the local market includes

17 any station that is licensed to a community within

18 the same designated market area as the noncommer19 cial educational television broadcast station.

20 ‘‘(6) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘satellite

21 carrier’ has the meaning given it by section 119(d) of

22 title 17, United States Code.

23 ‘‘SEC. 339. CARRIAGE OF DISTANT TELEVISION STATIONS

24 BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.

25 ‘‘(a) PROVISIONS RELATING TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub2 section (d), direct-to-home satellite service providers

3 shall be permitted to provide the signals of 1 affiliate

4 of each television network to any household that ini5 tially subscribed to direct-to-home satellite service on

6 or after July 10, 1998.

7 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION.—The deter8 mination of a new subscriber’s eligibility to receive

9 the signals of one or more distant network stations as

10 a component of the service provided pursuant to

11 paragraph (a) shall be made by ascertaining whether

12 the subscriber resides within the predicted Grade B

13 service area of a local network station. The Individual

14 Location Longley-Rice methodology described by the

15 Commission in Docket 98–201 shall be used to make

16 this determination. A direct-to-home satellite service

17 provider may provide the signal of a distant network

18 station to any subscriber determined by this method

19 to be unserved by a local station affiliated with that

20 network.

21 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

22 ‘‘(A) Within 90 days after the date of enact23 ment of the Satellite Television Act of 1999, the

24 Commission shall adopt procedures that shall be

25 used by any direct-to-home satellite service sub-
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1 scriber requesting a waiver to receive one or

2 more distant network signals. The waiver proce3 dures adopted by the Commission shall—

4 ‘‘(i) impose no unnecessary burden on

5 the subscriber seeking the waiver;

6 ‘‘(ii) allocate responsibilities fairly be7 tween direct-to-home satellite service pro8 viders and local stations;

9 ‘‘(iii) prescribe mandatory time limits

10 within which direct-to-home satellite service

11 providers and local stations shall carry out

12 the obligations imposed upon them; and

13 ‘‘(iv) prescribe that all costs of con14 ducting any measurement or testing shall be

15 borne by the direct-to-home satellite service

16 provider, if the local station’s signal meets

17 the prescribed minimum standards, or by

18 the local station, if its signal fails to meet

19 the prescribed minimum standards.

20 ‘‘(4) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—Any direct-to21 home satellite service provider that knowingly and

22 willfully provides the signals of 1 or more distant tel23 evision stations to subscribers in violation of this sec24 tion shall be liable for forfeiture in the amount of

25 $50,000 per day per violation.
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1 ‘‘(b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXISTING SUB2 SCRIBERS.—

3 ‘‘(1) MORATORIUM ON TERMINATION.—Until De4 cember 31, 1999, any direct-to-home satellite service

5 may continue to provide the signals of distant tele6 vision stations to any subscriber located within pre7 dicted Grade A and Grade B contours of a local net8 work station who received those distant network sig9 nals before July 11, 1998.

10 ‘‘(2) CONTINUED CARRIAGE.—Direct-to-home sat11 ellite service providers may continue to provide the

12 signals of distant television stations to subscribers lo13 cated between the outside limits of the predicted

14 Grade A contour and the predicted Grade B contour

15 of the corresponding local network stations after De16 cember 31, 1999, subject to any limitations adopted

17 by the Commission under paragraph (3).

18 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—

19 ‘‘(A) Within 180 days after the date of en20 actment of the Satellite Television Act of 1999,

21 the Commission shall conclude a single rule22 making, compliant with subchapter II of chapter

23 5 of title 5, United States Code, to examine the

24 extent to which any existing program exclusivity

25 rules should be imposed on distant network sta-
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1 tions provided to subscribers under paragraph

2 (2).

3 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall not impose any

4 program exclusivity rules on direct-to-home sat5 ellite service providers pursuant to subparagraph

6 (A) unless it finds that it would be both tech7 nically and economically feasible and otherwise

8 in the public interest to do so.

9 ‘‘(c) WAIVERS NOT PRECLUDED.—Notwithstanding

10 any other provision in this section, nothing shall preclude

11 network stations from authorizing the continued provision

12 of distant network signals in unaltered form to any direct13 to-home satellite service subscriber currently receiving them.

14 ‘‘(d) CERTAIN SIGNALS.—Providers of direct-to-home

15 satellite service may continue to carry the signals of distant

16 network stations without regard to subsections (a) and (b)

17 in any situation in which—

18 ‘‘(1) a subscriber is unserved by the local station

19 affiliated with that network;

20 ‘‘(2) a waiver is otherwise granted by the local

21 station under subsection (c); or

22 ‘‘(3) if the carriage would otherwise be consistent

23 with rules adopted by the Commission in CS Docket

24 98–201.
25

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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after the

2 date of enactment of the Satellite Television Act of 1999,

3 the Commission shall report to Congress on methods of fa4 cilitating the delivery of local signals in local markets, espe5 cially smaller markets.’’.

6 SEC. 5. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

7 (a) AMENDMENT OF SECTION 325(b).—Section 325(b)

8 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is

9 amended by striking the subsection designation and para10 graphs (1) and (2) and inserting the following:

11 ‘‘(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video

12 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

13 broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except—

14 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the station; or

15 ‘‘(B) pursuant to section 614 or section 615, in

16 the case of a station electing, in accordance with this

17 subsection, to assert the right to carriage under that

18 section.

19 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply

20 to—

21 ‘‘(A) retransmission of the signal of a television

22 broadcast station outside the station’s local market by

23 a satellite carrier directly to subscribers if—

24 ‘‘(i) that station was a superstation on May

25 1, 1991;
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1 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station’s sig2 nal was transmitted under the compulsory li3 cense of section 119 of title 17, United States

4 Code, by satellite carriers directly to at least

5 250,000 subscribers; and

6 ‘‘(iii) the satellite carrier complies with any

7 program exclusivity rules that may be adopted

8 by the Federal Communications Commission

9 pursuant to section 338.

10 ‘‘(B) retransmission of the distant signal of a

11 broadcasting station that is owned or operated by, or

12 affiliated with, a broadcasting network directly to a

13 home satellite antenna, if the subscriber resides in an

14 unserved household; or

15 ‘‘(C) retransmission by a cable operator or other

16 multichannel video programming distributor (other

17 than by a satellite carrier direct to its subscribers) of

18 the signal of a television broadcast station outside the

19 station’s local market, if that signal was obtained

20 from a satellite carrier and—

21 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta22 tion on May 1, 1991; and

23 ‘‘(ii) the originating station was a network

24 station on December 31, 1997, and its signal was
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1 retransmitted by a satellite carrier directly to

2 subscribers.

3 ‘‘(3) Any term used in this subsection that is defined

4 in section 337(d) of this Act has the meaning given to it

5 by that section.’’.

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub7 section (a) take effect on January 1, 1999.

8 SEC. 6. DESIGNATED MARKET AREAS.

9 Nothing in this Act, or in the amendments made by

10 this Act, prevents the Federal Communications Commission

11 from revising the listing of designated market areas or reas12 signing those areas if the revision or reassignment is done

13 in the same manner and to the same extent as the Commis14 sion’s cable television mandatory carriage rules provide.

15 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

16 If any provision of this Act or section 325(b) or 337

17 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b) or

18 337, respectively), or the application of that provision to

19 any person or circumstance, is held by a court of competent

20 jurisdiction to violate any provision of the Constitution of

21 the United States, then the other provisions of that section,

22 and the application of that provision to other persons and

23 circumstances, shall not be affected.
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1 SEC. 8. SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS.

2 (a) AMENDMENT OF SECTION 119(a)(2)(B) OF TITLE

3 17, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 119(a)(2)(B) of title

4 17, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(B) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS TO UNSERVED

6 HOUSEHOLDS.—Except as provided in paragraph

7 (5)(E) of this subsection, the license provided for in

8 subparagraph (a) shall be limited to secondary trans9 missions to persons who reside in unserved house10 holds.’’.

11 (b) AMENDMENT OF SECTION 119(a)(5) OF TITLE

12 17.—Section 119(a)(5) of title 17, United States Code, is

13 amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

14 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION.—The secondary transmission

15 by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission made

16 by a network station to subscribers who do not reside

17 in unserved households shall not be an act of infringe18 ment if—

19 ‘‘(i) that station was a superstation on May

20 1, 1991; and

21 ‘‘(ii) that station was lawfully retrans22 mitted by satellite carriers directly to at least

23 250,000 subscribers as of July 1, 1998.’’.

24 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

25 In this Act:
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1 (1) TERMS DEFINED IN COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF

2 1934.—Any term used in this Act that is defined in

3 section 337(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as

4 added by section 4 of this Act, has the meaning given

5 to it by that section.

6 (2) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term ‘‘des7 ignated market area’’ means a designated market

8 area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research and

9 published in the DMA Market and Demographic Re10 port.