Calendar No. 717

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1427

[Report No. 105–411]

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reposes. vide community broadcasting, and for other pur- to preserve low-power television stations that pro- quire the Federal Communications Commission

OCTOBER 12 (legislative day, OCTOBER 2), 1998

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 717

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1427

[Report No. 105–411]

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to preserve low-power television stations that provide community broadcasting, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 7, 1997

Mr. FORD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

OCTOBER 12 (legislative day, OCTOBER 2), 1998

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, with an amendment

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

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the

Federal Communications Commission to preserve lowpower television stations that provide community broadcasting, 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 ‘‘Community Broad3 casters Protection Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) Since the creation of low-power television li7 censes by the Federal Communications Commission,

8 a small number of license holders have operated

9 their stations in a manner beneficial to the public

10 good providing broadcasting to their communities

11 that would not otherwise be available.

12 (2) These low-power broadcasters have operated

13 their stations in a manner consistent with the pro14 gramming objectives and hours of operation of full15 power broadcasters providing worthwhile services to

16 their respective communities while under severe li17 cense limitations compared to their full-power coun18 terparts.

19 (3) License limitations, particularly the tem20 porary nature of the license, have blocked many low21 power broadcasters from having access to capital,

22 and have severely hampered their ability to continue

23 to provide quality broadcasting, programming, or

24 improvements.

25 (4) The passage of the Telecommunications Act

26 of 1996 has added to the uncertainty of the future
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1 status of these stations by the lack of specific provi2 sions regarding the permanency of their licenses, or

3 their treatment during the transition to high defini4 tion, digital television.

5 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TELE6 VISION BROADCASTING.

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 336 of the Communica8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 336) is amended—

9 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as

10 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow12 ing new subsection:

13 ‘(f) PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY

14 TELEVISION BROADCASTING.—

15 ‘‘(1) CREATION OF CLASS A LICENSES.—

16 Within 30 days after the date of enactment of the

17 Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1997,

18 the Commission shall prescribe regulations to estab19 lish a class A television license to be available to li20 censees of qualifying low-power television stations.

21 Such license shall be subject to the same license

22 terms, and renewal standards as the licenses for full23 power television stations except as provided in this

24 section, and each class A licensee shall be accorded

25 primary status as a television broadcaster as long as
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1 the station continues to meet the requirements for a

2 qualifying low-power station in subsection (2). With3 in 30 days after such regulations are adopted, the

4 Commission shall send a notice to the licensees of all

5 low-power television licenses of the terms of this sec6 tion. The Commission shall, within 30 days after re7 ceipt of an application that is acceptable for filing,

8 award such a class A television station license to any

9 licensee of a qualifying low-power television station.

10 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING LOW-POWER TELEVISION STA11 TIONS.—For purposes of this subsection, a station is

12 a qualifying low-power television station if—

13 ‘‘(A) within 24 months after the date of

14 enactment of the Community Broadcasters Pro15 tection Act of 1997 and for 6 months prior to

16 the filing of its Class A license application—

17 ‘‘(i) such station broadcast a mini18 mum of 18 hours per day;

19 ‘‘(ii) such station broadcast an aver20 age of at least 3 hours per week of pro21 gramming that was produced within the

22 market area served by such station, or the

23 market area served by a group of com24 monly controlled stations that carry com25 mon local or specialized programming not
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1 otherwise available to their communities;

2 and

3 ‘‘(iii) such station was in compliance

4 with the Commission’s requirements appli5 cable to low-power television stations; and

6 ‘‘(B) from and after the date of its appli7 cation for a Class A license, the station is in

8 compliance with the Commission’s operating

9 rules for full power television stations; or

10 ‘‘(C) the Commission determines that the

11 public interest, convenience, and necessity

12 would be served by treating the station as a

13 qualifying low-power television station for pur14 poses of this section, or for other reasons deter15 mined by the Commission.

16 ‘‘(3) COMMON OWNERSHIP.—No low-power tele17 vision station shall be disqualified for a class A li18 cense based on common ownership with any other

19 medium of mass communication.

20 ‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF LICENSES FOR ADVANCED

21 TELEVISION SERVICES TO QUALIFYING LOW-POWER

22 TELEVISION STATIONS.—The Commission is not re23 quired to issue any additional licenses for advanced

24 television services to the licensees of the class A tele25 vision stations but shall approve such license appli-
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1 cations proposing facilities that will not cause inter2 ference to any other broadcast facility authorized on

3 the date of filing of the Class A advanced television

4 application. Such a licensee may, at the option of li5 censee, elect to convert to the provision of advanced

6 television services on its analog channel, but shall

7 not be required to convert to digital operation until

8 the Commission requires the use of digital or other

9 advanced technologies by all full-power television

10 stations.

11 ‘‘(5) PRESERVATION OF CLASS A STATIONS.—

12 Except as expressly permitted by this paragraph, no

13 licensee of a class A television station shall be re14 quired to cease operations, nor shall the license of

15 such a licensee be rescinded or otherwise terminated,

16 for the purposes of implementing any amendments

17 to the table of allotments adopted before the date of

18 enactment of the Community Broadcasters Protec19 tion Act of 1997 to provide additional licenses for

20 advanced television services. The Commission may

21 order such a cessation, rescission, or termination

22 only after compliance with the following require23 ments:

24 ‘‘(A) The Commission shall revise such

25 table of allotments to preserve each class A sta-
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1 tion unless the preservation of such station (i)

2 would render impossible the assignment of an

3 additional license for advanced television serv4 ices to a full-power station, (ii) would require

5 the Commission to revoke or rescind a construc6 tion permit issued to such full-power station, or

7 (iii) would cause a significant delay or increase

8 in cost of the construction of a digital television

9 facility by a network-affiliated analog station li10 censee in the top 30 markets.

11 ‘‘(B) If the Commission cannot revise the

12 table of allotments to preserve a class A station

13 as required by subparagraph (A), the Commis14 sion shall, to the maximum extent possible, re15 vise the table of allotments to preserve the class

16 A station in the same community of license,

17 using the same facilities, by assigning to such

18 station a different frequency.

19 ‘‘(C) If the Commission cannot revise the

20 table of allotments to preserve a class A station

21 as required by subparagraph (A) or (B), the

22 Commission shall seek to provide such licensee

23 with a class A license in a community of license

24 that is adjacent to the station’s previous com25 munity of license.
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1 ‘‘(D) If the Commission cannot preserve a

2 class A station as required by subparagraph

3 (A), (B), or (C), the Commission shall award

4 such licensee the license for another station in

5 another community of license acceptable to the

6 licensee, to the extent that the license for such

7 other station is available. Such a licensee shall

8 be preferred in the award of such other station

9 license over any other applicant (other than an10 other licensee of a class A television station that

11 is required to relinquish its existing license).’’

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broad14 casters Protection Act of 1998’’.

15 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

16 The Congress finds that:

17 (1) Since the creation of low-power television li18 censes by the Federal Communications Commission, a

19 small number of license holders have operated their

20 stations in a manner beneficial to the public good

21 providing broadcasting to their communities that

22 would not otherwise be available.

23 (2) These low-power broadcasters have operated

24 their stations in a manner consistent with the pro25 gramming objectives and hours of operation of full-
9

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1 power broadcasters providing worthwhile services to

2 their respective communities while under severe li3 cense limitations compared to their full-power coun4 terparts.

5 (3) License limitations, particularly the tem6 porary nature of the license, have blocked many low7 power broadcasters from having access to capital, and

8 have severely hampered their ability to continue to

9 provide quality broadcasting, programming, or im10 provements.

11 (4) The passage of the Telecommunications Act

12 of 1996 has added to the uncertainty of the future sta13 tus of these stations by the lack of specific provisions

14 regarding the permanency of their licenses, or their

15 treatment during the transition to high definition,

16 digital television.

17 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TELE18 VISION BROADCASTING.

19 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 336 of the Communications

20 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 336) is amended—

21 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as

22 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following

24 new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TEL2 EVISION BROADCASTING.—

3 ‘‘(1) CREATION OF CLASS A LICENSES.— Within

4 120 days after the date of enactment of the Commu5 nity Broadcasters Protection Act of 1998, the Com6 mission shall prescribe regulations to establish a class

7 A television license to be available to licensees of

8 qualifying low-power television stations. Such license

9 shall be subject to the same license terms, and renewal

10 standards as the licenses for full-power television sta11 tions except as provided in this section, and each

12 class A licensee shall be accorded primary status as

13 a television broadcaster as long as the station contin14 ues to meet the requirements for a qualifying low15 power station in paragraph (2). Within 30 days after

16 the enactment of the Community Broadcasters Protec17 tion Act of 1998, the Commission shall send a notice

18 to the licensees of all low-power televisions licenses

19 that describes the requirements for Class A designa20 tion. Within 30 days after receipt of the notice, licens21 ees intending to seek Class A designation shall submit

22 to the Commission a certification of eligibility based

23 on the qualification requirements of this Act. Absent

24 a material deficiency, the Commission shall grant cer25 tification of eligibility to apply for Class A status.
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1 The Commission shall act to preserve the contours of

2 low-power television licensees pending the final reso3 lution of a Class A application. Under the require4 ments set forth in subsection (f)(2)(A) and (B) and

5 subsection (f)(6) of this section, a licensee may submit

6 an application for Class A designation under this

7 paragraph only within 30 days after final regulations

8 are adopted. The Commission shall, within 30 days

9 after receipt of an application that is acceptable for

10 filing, award such a class A television station license

11 to any licensee of a qualifying low-power television

12 station.

13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING LOW-POWER TELEVISION STA14 TIONS.—For purposes of this subsection, a station is

15 a qualifying low-power television station if—

16 ‘‘(A) during the 90 days preceding the date

17 of enactment of the Community Broadcasters

18 Protection Act of 1998—

19 ‘‘(i) such station broadcast a minimum

20 of 18 hours per day;

21 ‘‘(ii) such station broadcast an average

22 of at least 3 hours per week of programming

23 that was produced within the market area

24 served by such station, or the market area

25 served by a group of commonly controlled
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1 stations that carry common local or special2 ized programming not otherwise available

3 to their communities; and

4 ‘‘(iii) such station was in compliance

5 with the Commission’s requirements appli6 cable to low-power television stations; and

7 ‘‘(B) from and after the date of its applica8 tion for a Class A license, the station is in com9 pliance with the Commission’s operating rules

10 for full power television stations; or

11 ‘‘(C) the Commission determines that the

12 public interest, convenience, and necessity would

13 be served by treating the station as a qualifying

14 low-power television station for purposes of this

15 section, or for other reasons determined by the

16 Commission.

17 ‘‘(3) COMMON OWNERSHIP.—No low-power tele18 vision station shall be disqualified for a class A li19 cense based on common ownership with any other me20 dium of mass communication.

21 ‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF LICENSES FOR ADVANCED

22 TELEVISION SERVICES TO QUALIFYING LOW-POWER

23 TELEVISION STATIONS.—The Commission is not re24 quired to issue any additional licenses for advanced

25 television services to the licensees of the class A tele-
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1 vision stations but shall accept such license applica2 tions proposing facilities that will not cause inter3 ference to any other broadcast facility authorized on

4 the date of filing of the Class A advanced television

5 application. In reviewing such applications, the Com6 mission shall consider the impact of such a grant on

7 the primary television viewing audience of the appli8 cant. Such new license or the original license of the

9 applicant shall be forfeited at the end of the DTV

10 transition. Low-power television station licensees

11 may, at the option of licensee, elect to convert to the

12 provision of advanced television services on its analog

13 channel, but shall not be required to convert to digital

14 operation until the Commission requires the use of

15 digital or other advanced technologies by all full16 power television stations.

17 ‘‘(5) NO PREEMPTION OF SECTION 337.—Nothing

18 in this section preempts section 337 of this Act.

19 ‘‘(6) INTERIM QUALIFICATION.—

20 ‘‘(A) STATIONS OPERATING WITHIN CERTAIN

21 BANDWIDTH.—The Commission may not grant a

22 Class A license to a low power television station

23 operating between 698 and 806 megahertz, but

24 the Commission shall provide to low power tele25 vision stations assigned to and temporarily oper-
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1 ating in that bandwidth the opportunity to meet

2 the qualification requirements for a Class A li3 cense. When such a qualified applicant for a

4 Class A license is assigned a channel within the

5 core spectrum, the Commission shall simulta6 neously issue a Class A license.

7 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN CHANNELS OFF-LIMITS.—The

8 Commission may not grant a channel within the

9 core spectrum under this subsection that includes

10 any of the 175 additional channels referenced in

11 paragraph 45 of its February 23, 1998, Memo12 randum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration

13 of the Sixth Report and Order: MM Docket No.

14 87–268. Within 18 months after the date of en15 actment of the Community Broadcasters Protec16 tion Act of 1998, the Commission shall identify

17 by channel, location, and applicable technical

18 parameters those 175 channels.

19 ‘‘(7) NO INTERFERENCE REQUIREMENT.—The

20 Commission may not grant a Class A license nor ap21 prove a modification of a Class A license unless the

22 applicant or licensee shows that the Class A station

23 for which the license or modification is sought will

24 not cause—
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1 ‘‘(A) impermissible interference within the

2 Grade B contour of any television station (as of

3 the date of enactment of the Community Broad4 casters Protection Act of 1998, or as proposed in

5 a minor change application filed on or before

6 such date) or the DTV service areas provided in

7 the DTV Table of Allotments, or subsequently

8 granted by the Commission prior to the filing of

9 a Class A application;

10 ‘‘(B) interference within the protected con11 tour of any low power television station or low

12 power television translator station licensed, au13 thorized by construction permit, or with a pend14 ing displacement application submitted prior to

15 the date on which the application for a Class A

16 license, or for the modification of such a license,

17 was filed; or

18 ‘‘(C) impermissible interference within the

19 protected contour of 80 miles from the geographic

20 center of the areas listed in section 22.625(b)(1)

21 or 90.303 of the Commission’s regulations (47

22 C.F.R. 22.625(b)(1) and 90.303) for frequencies

23 in—
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1 ‘‘(i) the 470–512 megahertz band iden2 tified in section 22.621 or 90.303 of such

3 regulations; or

4 ‘‘(ii) the 482–488 megahertz band in

5 New York.’’.