211 
‘‘(E) LOCATION AND METHOD OF CONVER-
SION.—A cable operator of a cable system may 
perform any conversion permitted or required by 
this paragraph at any location, from the cable 
head-end to the customer premises, inclusive. 
‘‘(F) CONVERSIONS NOT TREATED AS DEG-
RADATION.—Any conversion permitted or re-
quired by this paragraph shall not, by itself, be 
treated as a material degradation. 
‘‘(G) CARRIAGE OF PROGRAM-RELATED MA-
TERIAL.—The obligation to carry program-re-
lated material under this paragraph is effective 
only to the extent technically feasible. 
‘‘(H) DEFINITION OF STANDARD-DEFINITION 
FORMAT.—For purposes of this paragraph, a sig-
nal shall be in standard definition digital format 
if such signal meets the criteria for such format 
specified in the standard recognized by the Com-
mission in section 73.682 of its rules (47 C.F.R. 
73.682) or a successor regulation.’’. 
(2) TIERING.— 
(A) 
AMENDMENT
TO
COMMUNICATIONS 
ACT.—Clause (iii) of section 623(b)(7)(A) (47 
U.S.C. 543(b)(7)(A)(iii)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:27 Oct 01, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00211
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H5252.RS
H5252
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
212 
‘‘(iii) Any analog signal and any dig-
ital video signal of any television broadcast 
station that is provided by the cable oper-
ator to any subscriber, except a signal 
which is secondarily transmitted by a sat-
ellite carrier beyond the local service area of 
such station.’’. 
(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—With respect to any 
television broadcast station, this subsection and 
the amendments made by this paragraph shall 
take effect on the date the broadcaster ceases 
transmissions in the analog television service. 
(3) MATERIAL DEGRADATION.—Section 614 (47 
U.S.C. 534) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-
section (i); and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h) MATERIAL DEGRADATION.—For purposes of this 
section and section 615, transmission of a digital signal 
over a cable system in a compressed bitstream shall not be 
considered material degradation as long as such compres-
sion does not materially affect the picture quality the con-
sumer receives.’’. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:27 Oct 01, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00212
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H5252.RS
H5252
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
213 
(e) SATELLITE DOWNCONVERSION.—Section 338 (47 
U.S.C. 338) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(l) SPECIFIC CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS AFTER DIG-
ITAL TRANSITION.— 
‘‘(1) DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNAL.—With respect to 
any television broadcast station that is transmitting 
broadcast programming exclusively in the digital tele-
vision service in a local market in the United States, 
a satellite carrier carrying the digital signal of any 
other television broadcast station in that local market 
shall carry the station’s primary video required to be 
carried and program-related material without mate-
rial degradation, if the licensee for that station relies 
on this section to obtain carriage of the station’s video 
signal and program-related material on that satellite 
carrier’s system in that market. 
‘‘(2) FORMATTING OF PRIMARY VIDEO.—A sat-
ellite carrier shall offer the primary video and pro-
gram-related material of a local television station de-
scribed in paragraph (1) in the digital format trans-
mitted by the station if the satellite carrier carries the 
primary video of any other television broadcast sta-
tion in that local market in the same digital format. 
‘‘(3) MULTIPLE FORMATS PERMITTED.—A sat-
ellite carrier may offer the primary video and pro-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:27 Oct 01, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00213
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H5252.RS
H5252
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS