II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 25 

To ensure access to basic broadcast television after the Digital Television 

Transition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

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) ANTI-FRAUD PROTECTIONS.—The Assistant Sec12 retary shall develop, in consultation with the Commission, 

13 anti-fraud measures and procedures to ensure that only 

14 eligible households and individuals receive a coupon issued 

15 under this section. 

16 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

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

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

19 7 days thereafter, the National Telecommunications 

20 and Information Administration shall make publicly 

21 available on its website the— 

22 (A) number of requests for coupons under 

23 this section; 

24 (B) number of coupons issued under this 

25 section; 


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1 (C) amount of each coupon issued, includ2 ing the total amount of all such issued coupons; 

3 (D) types of costs to which each such 

4 issued coupon will be applied, as such costs are 

5 self-reported on the application of each house6 hold or individual; 

7 (E) number of issued coupons that have 

8 been redeemed; and 

9 (F) amount of unobligated and unexpended 

10 funds that remain from the amounts authorized 

11 under section 6. 

12 (2) TERMINATION.—The requirement described 

13 under paragraph (1) shall terminate 3-months after 

14 the last coupon under this section is issued. 

15 SEC. 4. BASIC BROADCAST TELEVISION SERVICE. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pro18 mulgate rules requiring that each multichannel video 

19 programming distributor, who provides broadcast 

20 television for a local market, provide to eligible con21 sumers in that local market access to basic broad22 cast television service, as such service is described in 

23 subsection (b). 

24 (2) SAFE HARBOR.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The retransmission or 

2 secondary transmission of any televison broad3 cast station by a multichannel video program4 ming distributor pursuant to paragraph (1) 

5 shall not be subject to any prohibitions on such 

6 activities as described under sections 325 and 

7 338 of the Communications Act of 1934 or 

8 under section 122 of title 17, United States 

9 Code, and any such distributor shall be immune 

10 from any civil liability related to fulfilling the 

11 requirements under paragraph (1). 

12 (B) FEE EXEMPTION.—In promulgating 

13 rules under paragraph (1), the Commission 

14 shall require that each television broadcast sta15 tion— 

16 (i) grant consent to multichannel 

17 video programming distributors to re18 transmit the signal of such broadcasting 

19 station only for the purposes of fulfilling 

20 the requirements under paragraph (1); and 

21 (ii) waive any fees or charges that are 

22 customarily or usually applied for the 

23 grant of such consent. 

24 (b) BASIC BROADCAST TELEVISION SERVICE.—Any 

25 rule promulgated under subsection (a) relating to the defiVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:41 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S25.IS S25

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1 nition of basic broadcast television service shall ensure 

2 that, at a minimum, such service includes the trans3 mission, retransmission, or secondary transmission of the 

4 over-the-air signal of any nonsubscription television broad5 cast station located within the local market. 

6 (c) ELIGIBLE CONSUMERS.— 

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

8 an ‘‘eligible consumer’’ is a consumer— 

9 (A) whose primary residence is located in 

10 a local market where at least 1 television broad11 cast station has certified to the Commission 

12 that channel signal loss has occurred as a result 

13 of the transition from analog to digital tele14 vision that is to occur on February 17, 2009; 

15 and 

16 (B) who does not currently subscribe to a 

17 multichannel video programming service at his 

18 or her primary residence. 

19 (2) LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY; PURCHASE OF ADDI20 TIONAL SERVICE.—If at any time after purchasing 

21 basic broadcast television service pursuant to this 

22 section, an eligible consumer purchases any addi23 tional channel service from a multichannel video pro24 gramming distributor, such consumer shall no longer 


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1 be eligible to purchase such basic broadcast tele2 vision service. 

3 (d) ADDITIONAL COST REQUIREMENTS.—In promul4 gating rules under subsection (a), the Commission shall 

5 ensure that— 

6 (1) the cost to purchase basic broadcast tele7 vision service does not exceed $10 per month, except 

8 that such maximum monthly fee shall be adjusted 

9 annually in accordance with the annual percentage 

10 increase in the Consumer Price Index of the Bureau 

11 of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor in 

12 increments of $1 only when the percentage increase 

13 in such index, when applied to the maximum month14 ly fee, produces dollar increases that exceed $1; and 

15 (2) a multichannel video programming dis16 tributor providing such basic broadcast service may 

17 not charge installation costs for such service that are 

18 in excess of the regular market rate charged to nor19 mal non-basic broadcast television service customers 

20 who purchase installation for any other services pro21 vided by the multichannel video programming dis22 tributor. 

23 (e) ANTI-FRAUD PROTECTIONS.—The Commission 

24 shall develop anti-fraud measures and procedures to en25 sure that only eligible consumers are provided access to 


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1 basic broadcast television service under the terms of this 

2 section. 

3 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 months 

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

5 months thereafter, the Commission shall submit a report 

6 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor7 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

8 Commerce of the House of Representatives on— 

9 (1) the number of eligible consumers who have 

10 purchased basic broadcast television service; 

11 (2) the problems encountered by eligible con12 sumers, multichannel video programming distribu13 tors, television broadcasters, or the Commission in 

14 adhering to or implementing the requirements of 

15 this section; and 

16 (3) any other information the Commission de17 termines appropriate. 

18 (g) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission shall 

19 make any report required under subsection (e) available 

20 to the public on its website in a searchable and 

21 downloadable manner. 

22 (h) TERMINATION ONLY BY ACT OF CONGRESS.— 

23 This section may be limited, canceled, terminated, or re24 scinded only by an Act of Congress. 


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1 SEC. 5. OUTREACH CAMPAIGN. 

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

3 and coordination with the National Telecommunications 

4 and Information Administration, the Administrator of the 

5 Administration on Aging, the heads of any other relevant 

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

7 cable, satellite, and other telecommunications industries, 

8 and nonprofit, religious, community-based, and other simi9 lar organizations, shall carry out an education and out10 reach campaign to inform and educate consumers on the 

11 availability, benefits, and advantages of the programs and 

12 requirements established under this Act. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The education and outreach 

14 campaign required under subsection (a) shall, at a min15 imum— 

16 (1) begin immediately upon the date of enact17 ment of this Act; 

18 (2) involve dissemination of information over 

19 radio, television, the Internet, and other electronic 

20 media, as well other traditional nonelectronic media; 

21 (3) require that each agency described in sub22 section (a) maintain information relating to the pro23 grams and requirements established under this Act 

24 on the website of such agency; and 

25 (4) require efforts to inform and educate all rel26 evant consumers, in particular those consumers— 


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1 (A) in vulnerable populations such as— 

2 (i) senior citizens; 

3 (ii) consumers living in rural and trib4 al areas; 

5 (iii) non-English speaking consumers; 

6 (iv) consumers with disabilities; and 

7 (v) low-income consumers; and 

8 (B) located in a local market where chan9 nel signal loss as a result of the full power tran10 sition from analog to digital television that is to 

11 occur on February 17, 2009, is likely or pre12 dicted to be likely. 

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

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

15 and other similar organizations to assist with the edu16 cation and outreach campaign required under this section. 

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

18 the education and outreach campaign required under this 

19 section shall work to ensure the existence and operation 

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

21 as the clearinghouse for all information relating to this 

22 Act and the programs established by this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

3 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

4 $700,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, of which— 

5 (1) $600,000,000 shall be made available to the 

6 Assistant Secretary to carry out the digital 

7 viewership coupon program established under section 

8 3; and 

9 (2) $100,000,000 shall be made available to the 

10 Commission to carry out the requirements of sec11 tions 4 and 5. 

12 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNDS IN THE DIGITAL TELE13 VISION TRANSITION AND PUBLIC SAFETY FUND.—Not14 withstanding any other provision of law, any funds re15 maining in the Digital Television Transition and Public 

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

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

18 shall, upon the expiration of the digital-to-analog con19 verter box program established under section 3005 of the 

20 Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 

21 2005, be used to cary out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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