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★(Star Print)

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1547

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

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. HOLLINGS) 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 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broad5 casters Protection Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that:
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1 (1) Since the creation of low-power television li2 censes by the Federal Communications Commission,

3 a number of license holders have operated their sta4 tions in a manner beneficial to the public good pro5 viding broadcasting to their communities that would

6 not otherwise be available.

7 (2) These low-power broadcasters have operated

8 their stations in a manner consistent with the pro9 gramming objectives and hours of operation of full10 power broadcasters providing worthwhile services to

11 their respective communities while under severe li12 cense limitations compared to their full-power coun13 terparts.

14 (3) License limitations, particularly the tem15 porary nature of the license, have blocked many low16 power broadcasters from having access to capital,

17 and have severely hampered their ability to continue

18 to provide quality broadcasting, programming, or

19 improvements.

20 (4) The passage of the Telecommunications Act

21 of 1996 has added to the uncertainty of the future

22 status of these stations by the lack of specific provi23 sions regarding the permanency of their licenses, or

24 their treatment during the transition to high defini25 tion, digital television.
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1 (5) It is in the public interest to promote diver2 sity in television programming formats by encour3 aging low power television stations that serve foreign

4 language communities. These communities should

5 not lose their access to foreign language program6 ming as a result of the transition to digital tele7 vision.

8 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TELE9 VISION BROADCASTING.

10 (a) Section 336 of the Communications Act of 1934

11 (47 U.S.C. 336) is amended:

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

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

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol15 lowing new subsection:

16 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY

17 TELEVISION BROADCASTING.—

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

19 120 days after the date of enactment of the Commu20 nity Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999, the Com21 mission shall prescribe regulations to establish a

22 class A television license to be available to licensees

23 of qualifying low-power television stations. Such li24 cense shall be subject to the same license terms, and

25 renewal standards as the licenses for full-power tele-
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1 vision stations except as provided in this section, and

2 each class A licensee shall be accorded primary sta3 tus as a television broadcaster as long as the station

4 continues to meet the requirements for a qualifying

5 low-power station in paragraph (2). Within 30 days

6 after the date of enactment of the Community

7 Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999, the Commis8 sion shall send a notice to the licensees of all low9 power television licenses that describes the require10 ments for Class A designation. Within 60 days after

11 the date of enactment of the Community Broad12 casters Protection Act of 1999, licensees intending

13 to seek Class A designation shall submit to the Com14 mission a certification of eligibility based on the

15 qualification requirements of this Act. Absent a ma16 terial deficiency, the Commission shall grant certifi17 cation of eligibility to apply for Class A status. The

18 Commission shall act to preserve the contours of

19 low-power television licensees pending the final reso20 lution of a Class A application. Under the require21 ments set forth in paragraph (2) (A) and (B) and

22 paragraph (6) of this subsection, a licensee may sub23 mit an application for Class A designation under

24 this paragraph only within 30 days after final regu25 lations are adopted, except as provided for in para-
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1 graph (6)(A). The Commission shall, within 30 days

2 after receipt of an application that is acceptable for

3 filing, award such a Class A television station license

4 to any licensee of a qualifying low-power television

5 station. If, after granting certification of eligibility

6 or a Class A license, unforeseen technical problems

7 arise that require an engineering solution to a sta8 tion’s allotted parameters or channel assignment in

9 the digital television Table of Allotments, the Com10 mission may make such modifications as are nec11 essary to ensure replication of the digital television

12 applicant’s service area as provided for in section

13 622 of the Commission’s regulations (47 CFR 602).

14 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING LOW-POWER TELEVISION STA15 TIONS.—For purposes of this subsection, a station is

16 a qualifying low-power television station if:

17 ‘‘(A) during the 90 days preceding the

18 date of enactment of the Community Broad19 casters Protection Act of 1999:

20 ‘‘(i) such station broadcast a min21 imum of 18 hours per day;

22 ‘‘(ii) such station broadcast an aver23 age of at least 3 hours per week of pro24 gramming that was produced within the

25 market area served by such station, or the
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1 market area served by a group of com2 monly controlled stations that carry com3 mon local programming not otherwise

4 available to their communities; and

5 ‘‘(iii) such station was in compliance

6 with the Commission’s requirements appli7 cable to low-power television stations; and

8 ‘‘(B) from and after the date of its appli9 cation for a Class A license, the station is in

10 compliance with the Commission’s operating

11 rules for full power television stations; or

12 ‘‘(C) the Commission determines that the

13 public interest, convenience, and necessity

14 would be served by treating the station as a

15 qualifying low-power television station for pur16 poses of this section, or for other reasons deter17 mined by the Commission.

18 ‘‘(3) COMMON OWNERSHIP.—No low-power tele19 vision station that is authorized as of the date of en20 actment of the Community Broadcasters Protection

21 Act of 1999 shall be disqualified for a class A license

22 based on common ownership with any medium of

23 mass communication.

24 ‘‘(4) ISSUANCE OF LICENSES FOR ADVANCED

25 TELEVISION SERVICES TO QUALIFYING LOW-POWER
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1 TELEVISION STATIONS.—The Commission is not re2 quired to issue any additional licenses for advanced

3 television services to the licensees of the class A tele4 vision stations but shall accept such license applica5 tions proposing facilities that will not cause inter6 ference to any other broadcast facility authorized on

7 the date of filing of the Class A advanced television

8 applications. Such new license or the original license

9 of the applicant shall be forfeited at the end of the

10 digital television transition. Low-power television

11 station licensees may, at the option of licensee, elect

12 to convert to the provision of advanced television

13 services on its analog channel, but shall not be re14 quired to convert to digital operation until the end

15 of the digital television transition.

16 ‘‘(5) NO PREEMPTION OF SECTION 337.—Noth17 ing in this section preempts section 337 of this Act.

18 ‘‘(6) INTERIM QUALIFICATION.—

19 ‘‘(A) STATIONS OPERATING WITHIN CER20 TAIN BANDWIDTH.—The Commission may not

21 grant a Class A license to a low power television

22 station operating between 698 and 806 mega23 hertz, but the Commission shall provide to low

24 power television stations assigned to and tempo25 rarily operating in that bandwidth the oppor-
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1 tunity to meet the qualification requirements

2 for a Class A license. When such a qualified ap3 plicant for a Class A license is assigned a chan4 nel within the core spectrum, the Commission

5 shall simultaneously issue a Class A license.

6 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN CHANNELS OFF-LIMITS.—

7 The Commission may not grant a channel with8 in the core spectrum under this subsection that

9 includes any of the 175 additional channels ref10 erenced in paragraph 45 of its February 23,

11 1998, Memorandum Opinion and Order on Re12 consideration of the Sixth Report and Order:

13 MM Docket No. 87–268. Within 18 months

14 after the date of enactment of the Community

15 Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999, the Com16 mission shall identify by channel, location, and

17 applicable technical parameters those 175 chan18 nels.

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

20 Commission may not grant a Class A license or 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) interference within the Grade B con2 tour of any television station (as of the date of

3 enactment of the Community Broadcasters Pro4 tection Act of 1999, or as proposed in a minor

5 change application filed on or before such date)

6 or the digital television service areas provided in

7 the digital television Table of Allotments, or

8 subsequently granted by the Commission prior

9 to the filing of 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 application submitted prior to the date on

15 which the application for a Class A license, or

16 for the modification of such a license, was filed;

17 or

18 ‘‘(C) interference within the protected con19 tour of 80 miles from the geographic center of

20 the areas listed in section 22.625(b)(1) or

21 90.303 of the Commission’s regulations (47

22 C.F.R. 22.625(b)(1) and 90.303) for fre23 quencies in:
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1 ‘‘(i) the 470–512 megahertz bank

2 identified in section 22.621 or 90.303 of

3 such regulations; or

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

5 New York.’’.

6 (b) Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934

7 (47 U.S.C. 533) is amended:

8 ‘‘(1) by inserting the following in subsection

9 (h)(2)(F) after the first sentence: ‘A television

10 broadcast station shall not lose its status as a quali11 fied low power station because a full power television

12 station is subsequently licensed to a community

13 within the county or other equivalent political sub14 division served by the cable system or because a full

15 power television station subsequently begins to pro16 vide local news and information to the community.’.’’

17 SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE BIDDING EXCEPTIONS.

18 Section 309(j)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934

19 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(2)) is amended:

20 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

21 (B);

22 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub23 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(D) for low power television stations if at

2 least one of the mutually exclusive applicants

3 qualifies as a Class A licensee. Under such cir4 cumstances:

5 ‘‘(i) if only one of the mutually exclu6 sive applicants qualifies as a Class A li7 censee, the Commission shall assign the li8 cense to that applicant;

9 ‘‘(ii) if more than one of the mutually

10 exclusive applicants qualify as Class A li11 censees, the Commission shall assign the

12 license to an applicant who serves an un13 derserved area or population. An area or

14 population is underserved if:

15 ‘‘(I) at least 25 percent of the

16 area within the station’s primary serv17 ice contour does not receive primary

18 service from more than two commer19 cial television stations licensed under

20 part 73 of title 47 of the Code of Fed21 eral Regulations; or

22 ‘‘(II) the station’s programming

23 is broadcast in a foreign language

24 that is spoken by a significant propor-
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1 tion of population within the station’s

2 primary service contour;

3 ‘‘(iii) if more than one applicant pri4 marily broadcasts programming to under5 served areas or populations, or more than

6 one applicant is a Class A licensee and no

7 applicant primarily broadcasts program8 ming to underserved areas or populations,

9 then the Commission shall notify affected

10 parties and provide them with no fewer

11 than 60 days to develop an engineering so12 lution so that the applications are not mu13 tually exclusive. If the applicants do not

14 reach an engineering solution to resolve

15 mutual exclusivity, the Commission shall

16 establish a bidding credit which encour17 ages, to the extent possible, localism, diver18 sity of programming, and programming for

19 underserved communities.’’.

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