II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3740 

To ensure access to basic broadcast television after the Digital Television 

Transition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 11 (legislative day, DECEMBER 10), 2008 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To ensure access to basic broadcast television after the 

Digital Television Transition, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital TV Transition 

5 Fairness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions shall apply: 

8 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist9 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary for 


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1 Communications and Information of the Department 

2 of Commerce. 

3 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

5 (3) DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER BOX.— 

6 The term ‘‘digital-to-analog converter box’’ has the 

7 same meaning as in section 3005(d) of the Digital 

8 Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005. 

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

10 has the same meaning as in section 122(j) of title 

11 17, United States Code. 

12 (5) MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING DIS13 TRIBUTOR.—The term ‘‘multichannel video program14 ming distributor’’ has the same meaning as in sec15 tion 602(13) of the Communications Act of 1934. 

16 (6) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘television broadcast station’’ has the same 

18 meaning as in section 325(b)(7) of the Communica19 tions Act of 1934. 

20 SEC. 3. DIGITAL VIEWERSHIP COUPON PROGRAM. 

21 (a) CREATION OF PROGRAM.—The Assistant Sec22 retary, in coordination and consultation with the Commis23 sion, shall implement and administer a program through 

24 which households or individuals in the United States may 

25 obtain coupons that can be applied toward— 


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1 (1) the cost to install a digital-to-analog con2 verter box; 

3 (2) the purchase of an indoor or outdoor an4 tenna, or both if needed, to facilitate the reception 

5 and display of signals of channels broadcast in dig6 ital television service; 

7 (3) the cost to install any antenna described in 

8 paragraph (2); and 

9 (4) the cost to install, or the cost of any other 

10 equipment needed to receive and display, basic 

11 broadcast television service, as such service is de12 scribed in section 4. 

13 (b) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 

14 (1) ELIGIBILITY.— 

15 (A) HOUSEHOLD OR INDIVIDUAL.—Any 

16 household or individual that was or is eligible 

17 for a digital-to-analog converter box coupon 

18 under the coupon program established under 

19 section 3005 of the Digital Television Transi20 tion and Public Safety Act of 2005 shall be eli21 gible to receive a coupon under the coupon pro22 gram established under this section. 

23 (B) PRODUCT ELIGIBILITY.—The Assist24 ant Secretary, in consultation with the Commis25 sion, shall determine minimum standards for 


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1 which types of antennas, installation providers, 

2 and other companies are eligible to participate 

3 in the coupon program established under this 

4 section. Such minimum standards shall be es5 tablished not later than 30 days after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act. 

7 (C) LIMITATION.—No household or indi8 vidual may be eligible to participate in the cou9 pon program established under this section if— 

10 (i) on the date of enactment of this 

11 Act, the household or individual was receiv12 ing broadcast television that it had pur13 chased from a multichannel video program14 ming distributor; or 

15 (ii) after the date of enactment of this 

16 Act, the household or individual purchases 

17 television broadcasts, other than basic 

18 broadcast television service described in 

19 section 4, from a multichannel video pro20 gramming distributor. 

21 (2) REQUEST.—A household or individual may 

22 obtain coupons under this section by making a re23 quest as required by the regulations implementing 

24 this section. 


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1 (3) COUPON VALUE.—The Assistant Secretary 

2 shall determine the value of any coupons issued 

3 under this section, provided that the value of any 

4 single coupon does not exceed $80. In making the 

5 determination of the value of any single coupon, the 

6 Assistant Secretary shall consider the purpose for 

7 which the requesting household or individual is re8 questing the coupon and the types of costs to which 

9 the coupon will be applied. 

10 (4) DURATION.—All coupons issued under this 

11 section shall expire upon the later of the date of ter12 mination of the program established under this sec13 tion or 90 days. 

14 (5) TERMINATION.—The program established 

15 under this section shall terminate on the date that 

16 is 18 months after the date on which the first cou17 pon under this section is issued. 

18 (c) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The Assistant Sec19 retary shall develop, in consultation with the Commission 

20 and broadcast and television industry representatives, an 

21 Internet website and a toll-free telephone hotline accessible 

22 to consumers that have degraded or lost signals or chan23 nels as a result of the full power transition from analog 

24 to digital television that is to occur on February 17, 2009. 


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1 The website and telephone hotline shall provide relevant 

2 information in order to assist consumers in determining— 

3 (1) if the purchase or installation of an outdoor 

4 or indoor antenna will assist the consumer in resolv5 ing or improving their digital television reception 

6 problems; and 

7 (2) what options are available to them should 

8 they find that purchasing an outdoor or indoor an9 tenna will not assist in resolving or improving their 

10 digital television reception. 

11 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 month 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

14 7 days thereafter, the National Telecommunications 

15 and Information Administration shall make publicly 

16 available on its website the— 

17 (A) number of requests for coupons under 

18 this section; 

19 (B) number of coupons issued under this 

20 section; 

21 (C) amount of each coupon issued, includ22 ing the total amount of all such issued coupons; 

23 (D) types of costs to which each such 

24 issued coupon will be applied, as such costs are 


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1 self-reported on the application of each house2 hold or individual; 

3 (E) number of issued coupons that have 

4 been redeemed; and 

5 (F) amount of unobligated and unexpended 

6 funds that remain from the amounts authorized 

7 under section 6. 

8 (2) TERMINATION.—The requirement described 

9 under paragraph (1) shall terminate 3 months after 

10 the last coupon under this section is issued. 

11 SEC. 4. BASIC BROADCAST TELEVISION SERVICE. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pro14 mulgate rules requiring that each multichannel video 

15 programming distributor, who provides broadcast 

16 television for a local market, provide to eligible con17 sumers in that local market access to basic broad18 cast television service, as such service is described in 

19 subsection (b). 

20 (2) SAFE HARBOR.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The retransmission or 

22 secondary transmission of any televison broad23 cast station by a multichannel video program24 ming distributor pursuant to paragraph (1) 

25 shall not be subject to any prohibitions on such 


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1 activities as described under sections 325 and 

2 338 of the Communications Act of 1934 or 

3 under section 122 of title 17, United States 

4 Code, and any such distributor shall be immune 

5 from any civil liability related to fulfilling the 

6 requirements under paragraph (1). 

7 (B) FEE EXEMPTION.—In promulgating 

8 rules under paragraph (1), the Commission 

9 shall require that each television broadcast sta10 tion— 

11 (i) grant consent to multichannel 

12 video programming distributors to re13 transmit the signal of such broadcasting 

14 station only for the purposes of fulfilling 

15 the requirements under paragraph (1); and 

16 (ii) waive any fees or charges that are 

17 customarily or usually applied for the 

18 grant of such consent. 

19 (b) BASIC BROADCAST TELEVISION SERVICE.—Any 

20 rule promulgated under subsection (a) relating to the defi21 nition of basic broadcast television service shall ensure 

22 that, at a minimum, such service includes the trans23 mission, retransmission, or secondary transmission of the 

24 over-the-air signal of any nonsubscription television broad25 cast station located within the local market. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE CONSUMERS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 

3 an ‘‘eligible consumer’’ is a consumer whose primary 

4 residence is located in a local market where at least 

5 1 television broadcast station has certified to the 

6 Commission that channel signal loss has occurred as 

7 a result of the transition from analog to digital tele8 vision that is to occur on February 17, 2009. 

9 (2) LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY; PURCHASE OF ADDI10 TIONAL SERVICE.—If at any time after purchasing 

11 basic broadcast television service pursuant to this 

12 section, an eligible consumer purchases any addi13 tional channel service from a multichannel video pro14 gramming distributor, such consumer shall no longer 

15 be eligible to purchase such basic broadcast tele16 vision service. 

17 (d) ADDITIONAL COST REQUIREMENTS.—In promul18 gating rules under subsection (a), the Commission shall 

19 ensure that— 

20 (1) the cost to purchase basic broadcast tele21 vision service does not exceed $10 per month, except 

22 that such maximum monthly fee shall be adjusted 

23 annually in accordance with the annual percentage 

24 increase in the Consumer Price Index of the Bureau 

25 of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor in 


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1 increments of $1 only when the percentage increase 

2 in such index, when applied to the maximum month3 ly fee, produces dollar increases that exceed $1; and 

4 (2) a multichannel video programming dis5 tributor providing such basic broadcast service may 

6 not charge installation costs for such service that are 

7 in excess of the regular market rate charged to nor8 mal non-basic broadcast customers who purchase in9 stallation for any other services provided by the mul10 tichannel video programming distributor. 

11 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 

12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

13 12 months thereafter, the Commission shall submit a re14 port to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans15 portation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

16 Commerce of the House of Representatives on— 

17 (1) the number of eligible consumers who have 

18 purchased basic broadcast television service; 

19 (2) the problems encountered by eligible con20 sumers and multichannel video programming dis21 tributors in adhering to the requirements of this sec22 tion; and 

23 (3) any other information the Commission de24 termines appropriate. 


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1 (f) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission shall 

2 make any report required under subsection (e) available 

3 to the public on its website in a searchable and 

4 downloadable manner. 

5 (g) TERMINATION ONLY BY ACT OF CONGRESS.— 

6 This section may be limited, canceled, terminated, or re7 scinded only by an Act of Congress. 

8 SEC. 5. OUTREACH CAMPAIGN. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in consultation 

10 and coordination with the National Telecommunications 

11 and Information Administration, the Administrator of the 

12 Administration on Aging, the heads of any other relevant 

13 Federal agency, State and local agencies, the broadcast, 

14 cable, satellite, and other telecommunications industries, 

15 and nonprofit, religious, community-based, and other simi16 lar organizations, shall carry out an education and out17 reach campaign to inform and educate consumers on the 

18 availability, benefits, and advantages of the programs and 

19 requirements established under this Act. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The education and outreach 

21 campaign required under subsection (a) shall, at a min22 imum— 

23 (1) begin immediately upon the date of enact24 ment of this Act; 


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1 (2) involve dissemination of information over 

2 radio, television, the Internet, and other electronic 

3 media, as well other traditional nonelectronic media; 

4 (3) require that each agency described in sub5 section (a) maintain information relating to the pro6 grams and requirements established under this Act 

7 on the website of such agency; and 

8 (4) require efforts to inform and educate all rel9 evant consumers, in particular those consumers— 

10 (A) in vulnerable populations such as— 

11 (i) senior citizens; 

12 (ii) consumers living in rural and trib13 al areas; 

14 (iii) non-English speaking consumers; 

15 (iv) consumers with disabilities; and 

16 (v) low-income consumers; and 

17 (B) located in a local market where chan18 nel signal loss as a result of the full power tran19 sition from analog to digital television that is to 

20 occur on February 17, 2009, is likely or pre21 dicted to be likely. 

22 (c) PROVISION OF FUNDS.—The Commission may 

23 distribute funds to nonprofit, religious, community-based, 

24 and other similar organizations to assist with the edu25 cation and outreach campaign required under this section. 


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1 (d) WEBSITE.—Each Federal agency participating in 

2 the education and outreach campaign required under this 

3 section shall work to ensure the existence and operation 

4 of a single website accessible by the public that shall serve 

5 as the clearinghouse for all information relating to this 

6 Act and the programs established by this Act. 

7 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

10 $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Any 

11 amounts appropriated to carry out this Act shall remain 

12 available until expended. 

13 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNDS IN THE DIGITAL TELE14 VISION TRANSITION AND PUBLIC SAFETY FUND.—Not15 withstanding any other provision of law, any funds re16 maining in the Digital Television Transition and Public 

17 Safety Fund established under section 309(j)(8)(E) of the 

18 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(E)) 

19 shall, upon the expiration of the digital-to-analog con20 verter box program established under section 3005 of the 

21 Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 

22 2005, be used to cary out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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