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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1577

To assure timely, rational, and complete Federal Communications Commission

resolution of all pending proceedings reexamining the current radio and

television broadcast station ownership rules.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 13, 1999

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To assure timely, rational, and complete Federal Communications Commission resolution of all pending proceedings

reexamining the current radio and television broadcast

station ownership rules.

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 ‘‘Broadcast Ownership

5 Reform Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The contemporary electronic mass media

2 market provides consumers with abundant alter3 native sources of news, information and entertain4 ment, including radio and television broadcast sta5 tions, cable television systems, and the Internet.

6 (2) Due to the advent of digital technology,

7 these alternative sources of electronic news, informa8 tion and entertainment are converging as well as

9 proliferating.

10 (3) The simultaneous proliferation and conver11 gence of electronic mass media renders technology12 specific regulation obsolete.

13 (4) The public interest demands that the Fed14 eral Communications Commission reexamine its

15 technology-specific regulation of electronic mass

16 media to assure that it retains its relevance in the

17 face of the proliferation and convergence of elec18 tronic mass media.

19 (5) Section 202(h) of the Telecommunications

20 Act of 1996 recognized that there is a particular

21 public interest need for the Federal Communications

22 Commission to periodically and comprehensively re23 examine its radio and television broadcast ownership

24 rules, which predate the proliferation and conver-
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1 gence of alternative competing electronic sources of

2 news, information and entertainment.

3 (6) Although the Commission has reexamined

4 and revised its broadcast duopoly and one-to-a-mar5 ket ownership rules, it has not completed long-pend6 ing reexaminations of its national television station

7 ownership restrictions or the newspaper-broadcast

8 cross-ownership prohibition.

9 (7) The Commission’s failure to simultaneously

10 resolve all its pending broadcast cross-ownership

11 rules fails to recognize, as Congress did in enacting

12 section 202(h), that the proliferation and conver13 gence of alternative electronic media implicates the

14 bases of the national television ownership rules and

15 the newspaper broadcast cross-ownership rules no

16 less than the bases of the local radio and television

17 station ownership rules.

18 (8) The Commission’s failure to simultaneously

19 resolve all its broadcast cross-ownership rules will

20 affect all potential buyers and sellers of radio and

21 television stations in the interim, because the cur22 rent restrictions will prevent networks and news23 paper publishers from engaging in station trans24 actions to the extent they otherwise might.
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1 (9) The Commission’s failure to simultaneously

2 resolve its pending proceedings on the national tele3 vision ownership and newspaper/broadcast cross4 ownership restrictions is arbitrary and capricious,

5 because it treats similarly-situated entities—those

6 bound by ownership rules that predate the advent of

7 increased competition from alternative electronic

8 media—differently, without any consideration of, or

9 reasoned analysis for, this disparate treatment.

10 (10) The increase in the national television au11 dience reach limitation to 35 percent mandated by

12 section 202(c)(1)(B) of the Telecommunications Act

13 of 1996 was not established as the maximum per14 centage compatible with the public interest. On the

15 contrary, section 202(h) of that Act expressly directs

16 the Commission to review biennially whether any of

17 its broadcast ownership rules, including those adopt18 ed pursuant to section 202 of the Act, are necessary

19 in the public interest as a result of competition.

20 (11) The 35-percent national television audi21 ence reach limitation is unduly restrictive in light of

22 competition.

23 (12) The newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership

24 restriction is unduly restrictive in light of competi25 tion.
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1 (13) The Commission’s failure to resolve its

2 pending proceedings on the national television own3 ership and newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership re4 strictions simultaneously with its resolution of the

5 proceedings on the duopoly and one-to-a-market

6 rules does not serve the public interest.

7 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCE

8 REACH LIMITATION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications

10 Commission shall modify its rules for multiple ownership

11 set forth in section 73.3555(e) of its regulations (47

12 C.F.R. 73.3555(e) by increasing the national audience

13 reach limitation for television stations to 50 percent.

14 (b) FURTHER INCREASE.—The Commission may

15 modify those rules to increase the limitation to a greater

16 percentage than the 50 percent required by subsection (a)

17 if it determines that the increase is in the public interest.

18 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF NEWSPAPER/BROADCAST CROSS19 OWNERSHIP RULE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The newspaper/broadcast cross21 ownership rule under section 73.3555(d) of the Federal

22 Communication Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R.

23 73.3555(d)) shall cease to be in effect after December 31,
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1 1999, unless it is reinstated by the Commission under sub2 section (b) before January 1, 2000.

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