II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2454 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Ms. BALDWIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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 ‘‘Go Pack Go Act of 

5 2019’’. 


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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. 344. CARRIAGE OF NETWORK STATION SIGNALS IN 

7 CERTAIN COUNTIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘cable operator’ has the meaning 

10 given the term in section 602; 

11 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘covered county’ and ‘in-State, 

12 adjacent-market network station retransmission’ 

13 have the meanings given those terms in section 

14 119(d) of title 17, United States Code, except that, 

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

16 satellite carrier or a subscriber of a satellite carrier 

17 shall be considered to be a reference to a cable oper18 ator or a subscriber of a cable operator, respectively; 

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

20 given the term in section 122(j) of title 17, United 

21 States Code; 

22 ‘‘(4) the term ‘local network station’ means, 

23 with respect to a subscriber and a television net24 work, the network station— 

25 ‘‘(A) that is affiliated with the television 

26 network; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) within the local market of which the 

2 subscriber is located; and 

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

4 carrier’ have the meanings given those terms in sec5 tion 119(d) of title 17, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(b) SUBSCRIBER ELECTION.—A cable operator or 

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

8 covered county with respect to a television network, pro9 vide to the subscriber— 

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

11 network station that the operator or carrier is re12 quired to retransmit to the subscriber without re13 gard to this section; 

14 ‘‘(2) an in-State, adjacent-market network sta15 tion retransmission; or 

16 ‘‘(3) both retransmissions described in para17 graphs (1) and (2). 

18 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO LOCAL SIGNAL CARRIAGE

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

20 in-State, adjacent-market network station retransmission 

21 under subsection (b)— 

22 ‘‘(1) the provision of that retransmission to the 

23 subscriber shall be deemed to fulfill any obligation of 

24 the cable operator or satellite carrier to provide to 


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1 the subscriber the signal of a local network station 

2 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 that retransmission instead of the signal of a local 

7 network station shall not affect the status of the sat8 ellite carrier as a qualified carrier for purposes of 

9 that section and section 342 of this Act. 

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

12 shall be required to provide a retransmission under sub13 section (b) only to the extent that such provision is tech14 nically feasible, as determined by the Commission. 

15 ‘‘(e) 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 the sta2 tion shall be deemed to be significantly viewed in 

3 that county within the meaning of section 76.54 of 

4 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc5 cessor regulation.’’. 

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 

25 (2) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

2 through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (7), re3 spectively; and 

4 (B) by inserting before paragraph (3), as 

5 so redesignated, the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) COVERED COUNTY.—The term ‘covered 

7 county’ has the meaning given the term in section 

8 119(d) of title 17, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(2) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NETWORK

10 STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad11 jacent-market network station retransmission’ has 

12 the meaning given the term in section 119(d) of title 

13 17, United States Code.’’. 

14 (c) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO RECEIVE SIGNIFI15 CANTLY VIEWED SIGNALS.—Section 340(b)(3) of the 

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

17 amended by inserting before the period at the end the fol18 lowing: ‘‘or to a subscriber who elects under section 

19 344(b), with respect to the network with which the station 

20 whose signal is being retransmitted pursuant to this sec21 tion is affiliated, to receive an in-State, adjacent-market 

22 network station retransmission (as defined in section 

23 119(d) of title 17, United States Code) instead of the sig24 nal of a local network station (as defined in section 344)’’. 


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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 adding at the end 

13 the following: 

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 adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

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 adding at the end the following: 

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

8 STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad9 jacent-market network station retransmission’ means 

10 the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of 

11 the primary transmission of any network station 

12 whose community of license is located— 

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

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

15 the subscriber’s local market. 

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

17 county’ means, with respect to an in-State, adjacent18 market network station retransmission to a sub19 scriber, any county to which both of the following 

20 apply: 

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

22 counties in the State of Wisconsin: Ashland, 

23 Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Dunn, 

24 Florence, Iron, Pierce, Polk, Sawyer, St. Croix, 

25 or Washburn. 


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

2 of any television broadcast station— 

3 ‘‘(i) that is affiliated with the same 

4 network; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) whose community of license is lo6 cated in the subscriber’s State.’’. 

7 (b) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF LOCAL TELE8 VISION PROGRAMMING BY SATELLITE.—Section 122(a) of 

9 title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

12 adjacent-market network station retransmissions in13 stead of secondary transmissions under that para14 graph, in accordance with an election under section 

15 344(b) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’; and 

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

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

18 adjacent-market network station retransmissions in19 stead of secondary transmissions under that para20 graph, in accordance with an election under section 

21 344(b) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’. 

Æ 


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