II 

Calendar No. 569 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2799 

To extend the authority of satellite carriers to retransmit certain television 

broadcast station signals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 17 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 16), 2014 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To extend the authority of satellite carriers to retransmit 

certain television broadcast station signals, 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 Satellite Television Ac5 cess and Viewer Rights Act. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

6 section or other provision of the Communications Act of 

7 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

8 TITLE I—SATELLITE 

9 TELEVISION 

10 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY. 

11 Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘December 

13 31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2019’’; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘January 

15 1, 2015’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Janu16 ary 1, 2020’’. 

17 SEC. 102. MODIFICATION OF TELEVISION MARKETS TO 

18 FURTHER CONSUMER ACCESS TO RELEVANT 

19 TELEVISION PROGRAMMING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 338 (47 U.S.C. 338) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (k)— 

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

24 through (10) as paragraphs (2) through (11), 

25 respectively; 


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1 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

2 redesignated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term 

4 ‘designated market area’ means a designated market 

5 area as determined by Nielsen Media Research or by 

6 any successor system of assigning television broad7 cast stations to local markets adopted by the Com8 mission.’’; and 

9 (C) by amending paragraph (5), as redes10 ignated, to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(5) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’, 

12 in the case of both commercial and noncommercial 

13 television broadcast stations, means the designated 

14 market area in which a television broadcast station 

15 is located.’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(l) MARKET DETERMINATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Following a written re19 quest, the Commission may, with respect to a par20 ticular television broadcast station, include addi21 tional communities within its local market or exclude 

22 communities from such station’s local market to bet23 ter effectuate the purposes of this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In considering re25 quests filed under paragraph (1), the Commission— 


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1 ‘‘(A) may determine that particular com2 munities are part of more than one local mar3 ket; and 

4 ‘‘(B) shall afford particular attention to 

5 the value of localism, including promoting a 

6 consumer’s access to television signals that 

7 originate in the consumer’s State of residence, 

8 by taking into account such factors as— 

9 ‘‘(i) whether the station, or other sta10 tions located in the same area— 

11 ‘‘(I) have been historically carried 

12 on the cable system or systems within 

13 such community; and 

14 ‘‘(II) have been historically car15 ried on the satellite carrier or carriers 

16 serving such community; 

17 ‘‘(ii) whether the television station 

18 provides coverage or other local service to 

19 such community; 

20 ‘‘(iii) whether any other television sta21 tion that is eligible to be carried by a sat22 ellite carrier in such community in fulfill23 ment of the requirements of this section 

24 provides news coverage of issues of concern 

25 to such community or provides carriage or 


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1 coverage of sporting and other events of 

2 interest to the community; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) evidence of viewing patterns in 

4 households that subscribe and do not sub5 scribe to the services offered by multi6 channel video programming distributors 

7 within the areas served by such multi8 channel video programming distributors in 

9 such community. 

10 ‘‘(3) CARRIAGE OF SIGNALS.—A satellite carrier 

11 shall not delete from carriage the signal of a com12 mercial television station during the pendency of any 

13 proceeding under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATIONS.—Not later than 120 

15 days after the date that a written request is filed 

16 under paragraph (1), the Commission shall grant or 

17 deny the request.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

19 614(h)(1)(C) (47 U.S.C. 534(h)(1)(C)) is amended— 

20 (1) in clause (ii)— 

21 (A) in the matter preceding subclause (I), 

22 by striking ‘‘localism’’ and inserting ‘‘localism, 

23 including promoting consumer access to tele24 vision signals that originate in a consumer’s 

25 State of residence,’’; 


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1 (B) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘commu2 nity’’ and inserting ‘‘community or on the sat3 ellite carrier or carriers serving such commu4 nity’’; and 

5 (C) by amending subclause (IV) to read as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(IV) evidence of viewing pat8 terns in households that subscribe and 

9 do not subscribe to the services of10 fered by multichannel video program11 ming distributors within the areas 

12 served by such multichannel video 

13 programming distributors in such 

14 community.’’; and 

15 (2) by moving the margin of clause (iv) 4 ems 

16 to the left. 

17 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—As part of the rulemaking to 

18 implement the amendments made by this section, the Fed19 eral Communications Commission shall ensure that proce20 dures for the filing and consideration of a written request 

21 under sections 338(l) and 614(h)(1)(C) of the Commu22 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338, 534) fully effec23 tuate the purposes of the amendments made by this sec24 tion. As part of that process, the Federal Communications 

25 Commission shall update what it considers to be a commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Sep 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2799.RS S2799

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1 nity for purposes of a modification of a market under sec2 tion 338(l) or 614(h)(1)(C) of the Communications Act 

3 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338, 534). 

4 TITLE II—VIDEO POLICY 

5 REFORMS 

6 SEC. 201. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN RETRANSMISSION 

7 CONSENT. 

8 (a) JOINT RETRANSMISSION CONSENT NEGOTIA9 TIONS.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 

13 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(iv) prohibit a television broadcast 

16 station from coordinating negotiations or 

17 negotiating on a joint basis with another 

18 television broadcast station to grant re19 transmission consent under this section to 

20 a multichannel video programming dis21 tributor, unless such stations are directly 

22 or indirectly under common de jure control 

23 permitted by the Federal Communications 

24 Commission;’’. 


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1 (b) PROTECTIONS FOR SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED AND

2 OTHER TELEVISION SIGNALS.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 

3 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)), as amended, is further amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(v) prohibit a television broadcast 

6 station from limiting the ability of a multi7 channel video programming distributor to 

8 carry a television signal that has been 

9 deemed significantly viewed, within the 

10 meaning of section 76.54 of title 47, Code 

11 of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

12 regulation, or any other television broad13 cast signal such distributor is authorized 

14 to carry under section 338 or 614 of this 

15 Act, into the local market of such station, 

16 unless such stations are directly or indi17 rectly under common de jure control per18 mitted by the Commission; and’’. 

19 (c) PER SE VIOLATIONS.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 

20 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)), as amended, is further amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(vi) following an expiration of a re23 transmission consent agreement between a 

24 television broadcast station and a multi25 channel video programming distributor 


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1 under this section, permit the Commis2 sion— 

3 ‘‘(I) to request from the parties 

4 such information as it deems nec5 essary to ensure that neither party 

6 has committed a per se violation of its 

7 duty to negotiate in good faith under 

8 this paragraph; and 

9 ‘‘(II) to determine, based on the 

10 information collected under subclause 

11 (I) and in accordance with this Act, 

12 that a party to a retransmission con13 sent negotiation has committed a per 

14 se violation of its duty to negotiate in 

15 good faith.’’. 

16 (d) GOOD FAITH.—Section 325(b)(3) (47 U.S.C. 

17 325(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(D) UPDATE TO GOOD FAITH RULES.— 

19 The Commission shall commence a rulemaking 

20 to revise the regulations issued pursuant to sub21 paragraph (C). That rulemaking shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) consider whether each of the fol23 lowing constitutes a failure to negotiate in 

24 good faith as required by this paragraph— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the blocking of online con2 tent owned or controlled by a tele3 vision broadcast station or a television 

4 network, or the act of soliciting, en5 couraging, or otherwise seeking to 

6 have another entity block access to 

7 online content, during retransmission 

8 consent negotiations or after the expi9 ration of a retransmission consent 

10 agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(II) allowing a television net12 work to review and approve the rates, 

13 terms, and conditions of a retrans14 mission consent agreement, or the 

15 material terms of such agreement, for 

16 any television broadcast station not 

17 wholly owned by such network; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) review and update the Commis19 sion’s totality of the circumstances test to 

20 ensure that such test encourages parties to 

21 a retransmission consent negotiation to 

22 present bona fide proposals on the material 

23 terms of a retransmission consent agree24 ment during negotiations and engage in 


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1 timely negotiations to reach an agree2 ment.’’. 

3 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 325(b)(7) 

4 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) ‘television network’ means a television 

11 network in the United States which offers an 

12 interconnected program service on a regular 

13 basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 

14 25 affiliated broadcast stations in 10 or more 

15 States.’’. 

16 (f) MARGIN CORRECTIONS.— 

17 (1) Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 

18 325(b)(3)(C)) is further amended by moving the 

19 margin of clause (iii) 4 ems to the left. 

20 (2) Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is 

21 amended by moving the margin of paragraph (7), as 

22 amended by this section, 4 ems to the left. 

23 SEC. 202. UPDATE TO CABLE RATES REPORT. 

24 Section 623(k) (47 U.S.C. 543(k)) is amended to 

25 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(k) REPORTS ON AVERAGE PRICES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall an3 nually publish statistical reports on the average 

4 rates for basic cable service and other cable pro5 gramming, and for converter boxes, remote control 

6 units, and other equipment of cable systems that the 

7 Commission has found are subject to effective com8 petition under subsection (a)(2) compared with cable 

9 systems that the Commission has found are not sub10 ject to such effective competition. 

11 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT.—The 

12 Commission shall include in its report under para13 graph (1), the aggregate average total amount paid 

14 by cable systems per community in compensation 

15 under section 325.’’. 

16 SEC. 203. COMPETITIVE DEVICE AVAILABILITY. 

17 (a) TERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

18 (1) NEW NAVIGATION DEVICES.—The authority 

19 provided by the second sentence of section 

20 76.1204(a)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal Regula21 tions, terminates effective on the date that is 2 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (2) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 

24 than 910 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 


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1 revise its regulations to strike the sentence described 

2 in paragraph (1) and make any necessary con3 forming revisions to its regulations. 

4 (b) WORKING GROUP.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Chairman of 

7 the Federal Communications Commission shall con8 vene a working group of technical experts rep9 resenting a wide range of stakeholders, to identify 

10 and report performance objectives, technical capa11 bilities, and technical standards of a non-burden12 some, uniform, and technology- and platform-neutral 

13 software-based downloadable security system de14 signed to promote the competitive availability of 

15 navigation devices in furtherance of section 629 of 

16 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 549). 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 540 days after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the working group 

19 shall file a report with the Federal Communications 

20 Commission on its work under paragraph (1). 

21 (3) COMMISSION ASSISTANCE.—The Chair22 person of the Federal Communications Commission 

23 may appoint a member of the Commission’s staff— 

24 (A) to moderate and direct the work of the 

25 working group under this subsection; and 


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1 (B) to provide technical assistance to mem2 bers of the working group, as appropriate. 

3 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of 

4 the working group shall take place not later than 

5 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS TO EFFECTIVE COM7 PETITION PETITIONS. 

8 Section 623 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(o) STREAMLINED PETITION PROCESS FOR SMALL

11 CABLE OPERATORS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of enactment of the Satellite Tele14 vision Access and Viewer Rights Act, the Commis15 sion shall complete a rulemaking to establish a 

16 streamlined process for filing of an effective competi17 tion petition pursuant to this section for small cable 

18 operators, particularly those who serve primarily 

19 rural areas. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub21 section shall be construed to have any effect on the 

22 duty of a small cable operator to prove the existence 

23 of effective competition under this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF SMALL CABLE OPER25 ATOR.—In this subsection, the term ‘small cable opVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Sep 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2799.RS S2799

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1 erator’ has the meaning given the term in subsection 

2 (m).’’. 

3 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

4 SEC. 301. IMPLEMENTATION. 

5 Except as otherwise expressly provided, the Federal 

6 Communications Commission shall prescribe regulations 

7 to implement the requirements of this Act, and any 

8 amendments made by this Act, not later than 270 days 

9 after the date of enactment. 

10 SEC. 302. SEVERABILITY. 

11 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

12 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend13 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti14 tutional, the remainder of the Act, the amendments made 

15 by the Act, and the application of such provision or 

16 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af17 fected thereby. 

18 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This Act may be cited as the Satellite Television Access 

20 and Viewer Rights Act. 

21 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 

22 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 

23 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 

24 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, 

25 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 


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1 other provision of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

2 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

3 TITLE I—SATELLITE TELEVISION 

4 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY. 

5 Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘December 

7 31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2019’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘January 

9 1, 2015’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Janu10 ary 1, 2020’’. 

11 SEC. 102. MODIFICATION OF TELEVISION MARKETS TO FUR12 THER CONSUMER ACCESS TO RELEVANT TEL13 EVISION PROGRAMMING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 338 (47 U.S.C. 338) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (k)— 

17 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

18 through (10) as paragraphs (2) through (11), re19 spectively; 

20 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

21 redesignated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term 

23 ‘designated market area’ means a designated market 

24 area as determined by Nielsen Media Research.’’; and 


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1 (C) by amending paragraph (5), as redesig2 nated, to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(5) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’, 

4 in the case of both commercial and noncommercial 

5 television broadcast stations, means the designated 

6 market area in which a television broadcast station is 

7 located, including with respect to a commercial tele8 vision broadcast station any modifications to such 

9 market pursuant to subsection (l).’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(l) MARKET DETERMINATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Following a written request, 

13 the Commission may, with respect to a particular 

14 commercial television broadcast station, include addi15 tional communities within its local market or exclude 

16 communities from such station’s local market to better 

17 effectuate the purposes of this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In considering requests 

19 filed under paragraph (1), the Commission— 

20 ‘‘(A) may determine that particular com21 munities are part of more than one local market; 

22 ‘‘(B) shall afford particular attention to the 

23 value of localism by taking into account such 

24 factors as— 


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1 ‘‘(i) whether the station, or other sta2 tions located in the same area— 

3 ‘‘(I) have been historically carried 

4 on the cable system or systems within 

5 such community; or 

6 ‘‘(II) have been historically car7 ried on the satellite carrier or carriers 

8 serving such community; 

9 ‘‘(ii) whether the television station pro10 vides coverage or other local service to such 

11 community; 

12 ‘‘(iii) whether modifying the local mar13 ket of the television station would promote 

14 consumers’ access to television broadcast 

15 station signals that originate in their State 

16 of residence; 

17 ‘‘(iv) whether any other television sta18 tion that is eligible to be carried by a sat19 ellite carrier in such community in fulfill20 ment of the requirements of this section pro21 vides news coverage of issues of concern to 

22 such community or provides carriage or 

23 coverage of sporting and other events of in24 terest to the community; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) evidence of viewing patterns in 

2 households that subscribe and do not sub3 scribe to the services offered by multichannel 

4 video programming distributors within the 

5 areas served by such multichannel video 

6 programming distributors in such commu7 nity. 

8 ‘‘(3) CARRIAGE OF SIGNALS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) CARRIAGE OBLIGATION.—A market de10 termination under this subsection shall not cre11 ate additional carriage obligations for a satellite 

12 carrier if it is not technically and economically 

13 feasible for such carrier to accomplish such car14 riage by means of its satellites in operation at 

15 the time of the determination. 

16 ‘‘(B) DELETION OF SIGNALS.—A satellite 

17 carrier shall not delete from carriage the signal 

18 of a commercial television broadcast station dur19 ing the pendency of any proceeding under this 

20 subsection. 

21 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATIONS.—Not later than 120 

22 days after the date that a written request is filed 

23 under paragraph (1), the Commission shall grant or 

24 deny the request. 


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1 ‘‘(5) NO EFFECT ON ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE

2 DISTANT SIGNALS.—No modification of a commercial 

3 broadcast television station’s local market pursuant to 

4 this subsection shall have any effect on the eligibility 

5 of households in the community affected by such 

6 modification to receive distant signals pursuant to 

7 section 339 of this Act.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

9 614(h)(1)(C) (47 U.S.C. 534(h)(1)(C)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subclause (ii)— 

11 (A) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘commu12 nity’’ and inserting ‘‘community or on the sat13 ellite carrier or carriers serving such commu14 nity’’; 

15 (B) by redesignating subclauses (III) and 

16 (IV) as subclauses (IV) and (V), respectively; 

17 (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(III) whether modifying the local 

20 market of the television station would 

21 promote consumers’ access to television 

22 broadcast station signals that originate 

23 in their State of residence;’’; and 

24 (D) by amending subclause (V), as redesig25 nated, to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(V) evidence of viewing patterns 

2 in households that subscribe and do not 

3 subscribe to the services offered by mul4 tichannel video programming distribu5 tors within the areas served by such 

6 multichannel video programming dis7 tributors in such community.’’; and 

8 (2) by moving the margin of clause (iv) 4 ems 

9 to the left. 

10 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—As part of the rulemaking to 

11 implement the amendments made by this section, the Fed12 eral Communications Commission shall ensure that proce13 dures for the filing and consideration of a written request 

14 under sections 338(l) and 614(h)(1)(C) of the Communica15 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338, 534) fully effectuate the 

16 purposes of the amendments made by this section. As part 

17 of that process, the Federal Communications Commission 

18 shall update what it considers to be a community for pur19 poses of a modification of a market under section 338(l) 

20 or 614(h)(1)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

21 U.S.C. 338, 534). 

22 (d) MARKET MODIFICATION PROCESS.—The Federal 

23 Communications Commission shall make information 

24 available to consumers on its website that explains the mar25 ket modification process, including— 


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1 (1) who may petition to include additional com2 munities within, or exclude communities from, a— 

3 (A) local market (as defined in section 

4 338(k) (47 U.S.C. 338(k))); or 

5 (B) television market (as determined under 

6 section 614(h)(1)(C) (47 U.S.C. 534(h)(1)(C))); 

7 and 

8 (2) the factors that the Commission takes into 

9 account when responding to a petition described in 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 TITLE II—VIDEO POLICY 

12 REFORMS 

13 SEC. 201. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN RETRANSMISSION 

14 CONSENT. 

15 (a) JOINT RETRANSMISSION CONSENT NEGOTIA16 TIONS.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end; 

19 (2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 

20 end and inserting a semicolon; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(iv) prohibit a television broadcast 

23 station from coordinating negotiations or 

24 negotiating on a joint basis with another 

25 television broadcast station in the same 


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1 local market (as defined in section 338 of 

2 this Act) to grant retransmission consent 

3 under this section to a multichannel video 

4 programming distributor, unless such sta5 tions are directly or indirectly under com6 mon de jure control permitted under the 

7 regulations of the Federal Communications 

8 Commission; and’’. 

9 (b) PROTECTIONS FOR SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED AND

10 OTHER TELEVISION SIGNALS.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 

11 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)), as amended, is further amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(v) prohibit a television broadcast sta14 tion from limiting the ability of a multi15 channel video programming distributor to 

16 carry a television signal that has been 

17 deemed significantly viewed, within the 

18 meaning of section 76.54 of title 47, Code of 

19 Federal Regulations, or any successor regu20 lation, or any other television broadcast sig21 nal such distributor is authorized to carry 

22 under section 338, 339, 340, or 614 of this 

23 Act, into the local market of such station, 

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1 rectly under common de jure control per2 mitted by the Commission.’’. 

3 (c) GOOD FAITH.—Section 325(b)(3) (47 U.S.C. 

4 325(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(D) UPDATE TO GOOD FAITH RULES.—The 

6 Commission shall commence a rulemaking to re7 view and update its totality of the circumstances 

8 test for good faith negotiations. As part of that 

9 rulemaking, the Commission shall ensure that 

10 such test encourages parties to a retransmission 

11 consent negotiation to present bona fide pro12 posals on the material terms of a retransmission 

13 consent agreement during negotiations and en14 gage in timely negotiations to reach an agree15 ment.’’. 

16 (d) MARGIN CORRECTIONS.— 

17 (1) Section 325(b)(3)(C) (47 U.S.C. 

18 325(b)(3)(C)) is further amended by moving the mar19 gin of clause (iii) 4 ems to the left. 

20 (2) Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amend21 ed by moving the margin of paragraph (7), 4 ems to 

22 the left. 

23 SEC. 202. UPDATE TO CABLE RATES REPORT. 

24 Section 623(k) (47 U.S.C. 543(k)) is amended to read 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(k) REPORTS ON AVERAGE PRICES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall annu3 ally publish statistical reports on the average rates for 

4 basic cable service and other cable programming, and 

5 for converter boxes, remote control units, and other 

6 equipment of cable systems that the Commission has 

7 found are subject to effective competition under sub8 section (a)(2) compared with cable systems that the 

9 Commission has found are not subject to such effective 

10 competition. 

11 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

13 include in its report under paragraph (1), the 

14 aggregate average total amount paid by cable 

15 systems in compensation under section 325. 

16 ‘‘(B) FORM.—The Commission shall publish 

17 information under this paragraph in a manner 

18 substantially similar to the way other com19 parable information is published in such re20 port.’’. 

21 SEC. 203. COMPETITIVE DEVICE AVAILABILITY. 

22 (a) TERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

23 (1) NEW NAVIGATION DEVICES.—The second sen24 tence of section 76.1204(a)(1) of title 47, Code of FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Sep 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2799.RS S2799

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1 eral Regulations, terminates effective on the date that 

2 is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

4 910 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 Federal Communications Commission shall revise its 

6 regulations to strike the sentence described in para7 graph (1) and make any necessary conforming revi8 sions to its regulations. 

9 (b) WORKING GROUP.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the 

12 Federal Communications Commission shall convene a 

13 working group of technical experts representing a 

14 wide-range of stakeholders, to identify, report, and 

15 recommend performance objectives, technical capabili16 ties, and technical standards of a not unduly burden17 some, uniform, and technology- and platform-neutral 

18 software-based downloadable security system designed 

19 to promote the competitive availability of navigation 

20 devices in furtherance of section 629 of the Commu21 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 549). 

22 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 540 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the working group shall 

24 file a report with the Federal Communications Com25 mission on its work under paragraph (1). 


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1 (3) COMMISSION ASSISTANCE.—The Chairperson 

2 of the Federal Communications Commission may ap3 point a member of the Commission’s staff— 

4 (A) to moderate and direct the work of the 

5 working group under this subsection; and 

6 (B) to provide technical assistance to mem7 bers of the working group, as appropriate. 

8 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of 

9 the working group shall take place not later than 180 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS TO EFFECTIVE COM12 PETITION PETITIONS. 

13 Section 623 (47 U.S.C. 543) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(o) STREAMLINED PETITION PROCESS FOR SMALL

16 CABLE OPERATORS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of the Satellite Television 

19 Access and Viewer Rights Act, the Commission shall 

20 complete a rulemaking to establish a streamlined 

21 process for filing of an effective competition petition 

22 pursuant to this section for small cable operators, 

23 particularly those who serve primarily rural areas. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection 

25 shall be construed to have any effect on the duty of 


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1 a small cable operator to prove the existence of effec2 tive competition under this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF SMALL CABLE OPERATOR.— 

4 In this subsection, the term ‘small cable operator’ has 

5 the meaning given the term in subsection (m)(2).’’. 

6 SEC. 205. REPORT ON DESIGNATED MARKET AREAS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

9 Commission shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 

11 on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Energy 

12 and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the 

13 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

14 a report that contains— 

15 (1) an analysis of— 

16 (A) the extent to which consumers in each 

17 local market have access to broadcast program18 ming from television broadcast stations located 

19 outside their local market; and 

20 (B)(i) whether there are alternatives to the 

21 use of designated market areas to define markets 

22 that would provide consumers with more local 

23 programming options; and 

24 (ii) the potential impact the alternatives de25 scribed in clause (i) could have on localism and 


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1 on broadcast television locally, regionally, and 

2 nationally; and 

3 (2) recommendations on how to foster increased 

4 localism in counties served by out-of-State designated 

5 market areas. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATIONS FOR FOSTERING INCREASED LO7 CALISM.—In making recommendations under subsection 

8 (a)(2), the Commission shall consider— 

9 (1) the impact that designated market areas that 

10 cross State lines have on access to local programming; 

11 (2) the impact that designated market areas have 

12 on local programming in rural areas; and 

13 (3) the state of local programming in States 

14 served exclusively by out-of-State designated market 

15 areas. 

16 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

17 SEC. 301. IMPLEMENTATION. 

18 Except as otherwise expressly provided, the Federal 

19 Communications Commission shall prescribe regulations to 

20 implement the requirements of this Act, and any amend21 ments made by this Act, not later than 270 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act. 

23 SEC. 302. SEVERABILITY. 

24 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

25 this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment 


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1 to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitu2 tional, the remainder of the Act, the amendments made by 

3 the Act, and the application of such provision or amend4 ment to any person or circumstance shall not be affected 

5 thereby. 


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TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 569 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2799 

A BILL 

To extend the authority of satellite carriers to renals, and for other purposes. transmit certain television broadcast station sigSEPTEMBER 17 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 16), 2014 

Reported with an amendment 


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