I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4675
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish rules and regulations
for the redistribution or retransmission of local signals by satellite broad-
casters, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 1, 1998
Mr. TAUZIN (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. BOUCHER,
Mr. SANDERS, and Mrs. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Commit-
tee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish
rules and regulations for the redistribution or retrans-
mission of local signals by satellite broadcasters, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Consumer
Protection and Competition Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect on January 1, 1999.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO
COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934
SEC. 101. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.
Section 325 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 325) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as
subsections (d) and (e), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow-
ing new subsection:
‘‘(c) SATELLITE RETRANSMISSIONS.—
‘‘(1) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT REQUIRED.—
No satellite carrier shall retransmit the signal of a
television broadcast station, or any part thereof, ex-
cept—
‘‘(A) with the express authority of the sta-
tion; or
‘‘(B) pursuant to section 337, in the case
of a station electing, in accordance with this
subsection, to assert the right to carriage under
such section.
‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The provisions of this sub-
section shall not apply to—
‘‘(A) retransmission of the signal of a non-
commercial television broadcast station;
‘‘(B) retransmission of the signal of a tele-
vision broadcast station outside the station’s
local market by a satellite carrier directly to
subscribers if—
‘‘(i) such station was a superstation
on May 1, 1991; and
‘‘(ii) on December 31, 1997, such sta-
tion was a network station and its signal
was retransmitted by satellite carriers di-
rectly to at least 500,000 subscribers;
‘‘(C) retransmission of the distant signal of
a broadcasting station that is owned or oper-
ated by, or affiliated with, a broadcasting net-
work directly to a home satellite antenna, if the
household receiving the signal is an unserved
household;
‘‘(D) retransmission by a cable operator or
other multichannel video programming distribu-
tor (other than by a satellite carrier direct to its
subscribers) of the signal of a television broad-
cast station outside the station’s local market,
if such signal was obtained from a satellite car-
rier and—
‘‘(i) the originating station was a
superstation on May 1, 1991; and
‘‘(ii) the originating station was a net-
work station on December 31, 1997, and
its signal was retransmitted by a satellite
carrier directly to subscribers; or
‘‘(E) retransmission by a satellite carrier
to a subscriber before the effective date of the
regulations required by paragraph (3).
‘‘(3) PROMULGATION OF THE REGULATIONS.—
Within 45 days after the effective date of the Sat-
ellite Consumer Protection and Competition Act of
1998, the Commission shall commence a rulemaking
proceeding to revise the regulations governing the
exercise by television broadcast stations of the right
to grant retransmission consent under this sub-
section, and such other regulations as are necessary
to administer the limitation contained in paragraph
(2). The Commission shall complete all actions nec-
essary to prescribe such regulations within one year
after such effective date. Such regulations shall—
‘‘(A) establish election time periods that
correspond with those regulations adopted
under section 325(b)(3)(B) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934;
‘‘(B) prohibit television broadcast stations
that provide retransmission consent from en-
gaging in practices, understandings, arrange-
ments and activities, including exclusive con-
tracts for carriage that prevent a satellite car-
rier from obtaining retransmission consent from
such stations;
‘‘(C) require television broadcast stations
that provide retransmission consent to do so on
nondiscriminatory financial terms and condi-
tions, and with respect to nonfinancial terms
and conditions, take into account whether dif-
ferent types of multichannel video programming
distributors can or cannot provide all of the
same types of nonfinancial consideration, if any
is required, to such stations; and
‘‘(D) establish a mechanism for resolution
of disputes concerning the provisions of this
subsection, including—
‘‘(i) expedited review of any complaint
made pursuant to this subsection; and
‘‘(ii) procedures for the Commission
to collect such data, including the right to
obtain copies of all contracts and docu-
ments reflecting arrangements and under-
standings alleged to violate this subsection,
as the Commission requires to carry out
the provisions of this subsection.
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section:
‘‘(A) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—
The term ‘television broadcast station’ means
an over-the-air commercial or noncommercial
television broadcast station licensed by the Fed-
eral Communications Commission under sub-
part E of part 73 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, as such regulations are in effect on
August 4, 1998, and as they may be amended
thereafter, except that such term does not in-
clude a low-power or translator television broad-
cast station.
‘‘(B) 
BROADCASTING
NETWORK.—The
term ‘broadcasting network’ means a television
network in the United States which offers an
interconnected program service on a regular
basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least
25 affiliated broadcast stations in 10 or more
States.
‘‘(C) NETWORK STATION.—The term ‘net-
work station’ means a television broadcast sta-
tion that is owned or operated by, or affiliated
with, a broadcasting network.
‘‘(5) LOCAL MARKET.—
‘‘(A) In the case of both commercial and
noncommercial television broadcast stations, the
term ‘local market’ means the designated mar-
ket area in which a station is located.
‘‘(B) In the case of a commercial television
broadcast station, all commercial television
broadcast stations licensed to a community
within the same designated market area are
within the same local market.
‘‘(C) In the case of a noncommercial edu-
cational television broadcast station, the market
includes any station that is licensed to a com-
munity within the same designated market area
as the noncommercial educational television
broadcast station.
‘‘(6) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term
‘designated market area’ means a designated market
area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research and
published in the DMA Market and Demographic Re-
port.’’.
SEC. 102. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE-
TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG-
NALS.
Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is
amended by inserting after section 336 the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 337. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY
SATELLITE CARRIERS.
‘‘(a) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations
of subparagraph (2), each satellite carrier providing
secondary transmissions to subscribers located with-
in the local market of a television broadcast station
of a primary transmission made by that station shall
carry upon request all television broadcast stations
located within that local market, subject to section
325(c), by retransmitting the signal or signals of
such station that are identified by Commission regu-
lations for purposes of this subsection.
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(A) Until the date as established in sub-
paragraph (B), each satellite carrier providing
secondary transmissions to subscribers located
within the local market of a television broadcast
station of a primary transmission made by that
station shall carry a minimum of 5 local tele-
vision broadcast stations in that local market at
least one of which shall be a noncommercial
educational broadcast station in that market.
‘‘(B) No satellite carrier shall be required
to carry more than the number of local tele-
vision broadcast stations specified in subpara-
graph (A) until January 1, 2002.
‘‘(C) A satellite carrier providing secondary
transmissions to subscribers pursuant to sub-
paragraph (A) shall not be required to carry a
greater number of signals of local broadcast
stations within a local market than one-third of
the usable activated channels of such carrier
that are used in providing video programming
to subscribers in such local market.
‘‘(D) Carriage of local broadcast stations
within the local market shall be at the discre-
tion of the satellite carrier, subject to the mini-
mum requirement established in subparagraph
(A) and the requirements of section 325(c).
‘‘(b) CONTENT TO BE CARRIED.—
‘‘(1) VIDEO, AUDIO, AND CLOSED CAPTION.—A
satellite carrier providing secondary transmissions to
subscribers located within the local market of a tele-
vision broadcast station of a primary transmission
made by that station shall carry in its entirety, the
primary video, accompanying audio, and line 21
closed caption transmission of each of the local com-
mercial television stations so provided by the carrier
and, to the extent technically feasible, program-relat-
ed material carried in the vertical blanking interval
or on subcarriers. Retransmission of other material
in the vertical blanking internal or other nonpro-
gram-related material (including teletext and other
subscription and advertiser-supported information
services) shall be at the discretion of the satellite
carrier. Where appropriate and feasible, satellite car-
riers may delete signal enhancements, such as ghost-
canceling, from the broadcast signal and employ
other enhancements.
‘‘(2) PROGRAM SCHEDULE.—Except as other-
wise provided in regulations of the Commission, the
satellite carrier shall carry the entirety of the pro-
gram schedule of any television station transmitted
as described in paragraph (1) by the satellite carrier
unless carriage of specific programming is prohib-
ited, and other programming authorized to be sub-
stituted, under section 76.67 or subpart F of part
76 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in ef-
fect on January 1, 1991), or any successor regula-
tions thereto.
‘‘(c) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—Notwithstand-
ing subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be required
to carry upon request the signal of any local television
broadcast station that substantially duplicates the signal
of another television broadcast station which is secondarily
transmitted by the satellite carrier within the same local
market, or to carry upon request the signals of more than
1 local television broadcast station in a single local market
that is affiliated with a particular broadcast network (as
the term is defined by regulation).
‘‘(d) CHANNEL POSITIONING.—No satellite carrier
shall be required to provide the signal of a local television
broadcast station to subscribers in that station’s local
market on any particular channel number or to provide
the signals in any particular order, except that the satellite
carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local television
broadcast stations to subscribers in the stations’ local
market on contiguous channels and in a nondiscriminatory
manner on any navigational device, on-screen program
guide, or menu.
‘‘(e) COMPENSATION
FOR CARRIAGE.—A satellite
carrier shall not accept or request monetary payment or
other valuable consideration in exchange either for car-
riage of local television broadcast stations in fulfillment
of the requirements of this section, except that any such
station is required to bear the costs associated with deliv-
ering a good quality signal to the designated uplink facility
of the satellite carrier.
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS
BY COMMISSION.—Within 180
days after the effective date of this section, the Commis-
sion shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue regula-
tions implementing this section.
‘‘(g) REMEDIES.—
‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS BY BROADCAST STATIONS.—
Whenever a local television broadcast station believes
that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga-
tions under this subsection, such station shall notify
the carrier, in writing, of the alleged failure and
identify its reasons for believing that the satellite
carrier is obligated to carry upon request the signal
of such station or has otherwise failed to comply
with other requirements of this subsection. The sat-
ellite carrier shall, within 30 days of such written
notification, respond in writing to such notification
and either begin carrying the signal of such station
in accordance with the terms requested or state its
reasons for believing that it is not obligated to carry
such signal or is in compliance with other require-
ments of this subsection, as the case may be. A local
television broadcast station that is denied carriage in
accordance with this subsection by a satellite carrier
or is otherwise harmed by a response by a satellite
carrier that it is in compliance with other require-
ments of this subsection may obtain review of such
denial or response by filing a compliant with the
Commission. Such complaint shall allege the manner
in which such satellite carrier has failed to meet its
obligations and the basis for such allegations.
‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Com-
mission shall afford the satellite carrier against
which a complaint is filed under subparagraph (A)
an opportunity to present data and arguments to es-
tablish that there has been no failure to meet its ob-
ligations under this subsection.
‘‘(3) REMEDIAL ACTIONS; DISMISSAL.—Within
120 days after the date a complaint is filed under
subparagraph (A), the Commission shall determine
whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations
under this chapter. If the Commission determines
that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obli-
gations, the Commission shall order the satellite car-
rier, in the case of an obligation to carry a station,
to begin carriage of the station and to continue such
carriage for at least 12 months, or, in the case of
the failure to meet other obligations under this sub-
section, shall take other appropriate remedial action.
If the Commission determines that the satellite car-
rier has fully met the requirements of this chapter,
the Commission shall dismiss the complaint.
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term
‘designated market area’ means a designated market
area, as determined by the Nielsen Media Research
and published in the DMA Market and Demographic
Report.
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’
means an entity which contracts to distribute sec-
ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei-
ther as a single channel or in a package with other
programming, provides the secondary transmission
either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly
through other program distribution entities.
‘‘(3) LOCAL MARKET.—
‘‘(A) In the case of both commercial and
noncommercial television broadcast stations, the
term ‘local market’ means the designated mar-
ket area in which a station is located.
‘‘(B) In the case of a commercial television
broadcast station, all commercial television
broadcast stations licensed to a community
within the same designated market area are
within the same local market.
‘‘(C) In the case of a noncommercial edu-
cational television broadcast station, the market
includes any station that is licensed to a com-
munity within the same designated market area
as the noncommercial educational television
broadcast station.
‘‘(4) DESIGNATED
UPLINK
FACILITY.—The
term ‘designated uplink facility’ means the reception
point in each local market which a satellite carrier
designates for delivery of the signal of the station
for purposes of retransmission. The designation of
such facility by a satellite carrier shall not be used
to undermine or evade the carriage requirements im-
posed by this chapter.
‘‘(5) 
SUBSCRIBER.—The 
term 
‘subscriber’
means an entity that receives a secondary trans-
mission service by means of a secondary trans-
mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv-
ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or
to a distributor.
‘‘(6) TELEVISION
BROADCAST
STATION.—The
term ‘television broadcast station’ means an over-
the-air commercial or noncommercial television
broadcast station licensed by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission under subpart E of part 73 of
title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, as such regu-
lations are in effect on August 4, 1998, and as they
may be amended thereafter, except that such term
does not include a low-power or translator television
broadcast station.
‘‘(7) SATELLITE
CARRIER, ETC.—The terms
‘satellite carrier’, ‘secondary transmission’, and
‘unserved household’ have the meanings given such
terms in section 119(d) of title 17, United States
Code.’’.
SEC. 103. CARRIAGE OF DISTANT NETWORK SIGNALS BY
SATELLITE CARRIERS.
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-
mote competition in the provision of multichannel video
services by enabling direct broadcast satellite providers to
offer distant network signals to consumers in areas receiv-
ing inadequate over-the-air reception of local television sig-
nals.
(b) CONTINUED RETRANSMISSION OF DISTANT NET-
WORK SIGNALS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, satellite carriers retransmitting the signal of a distant
network station to households located within an area
served by a local affiliate of the same network and receiv-
ing service as of the date of enactment of this Act, shall
not be required to discontinue carriage of the distant net-
work station to such households prior to February 28,
1999. Nothing in this subsection is intended to modify the
duration of the license granted in section 119 of title 17,
United States Code.
(c) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—The Federal Commu-
nications Commission shall complete a single rulemaking
proceeding in which it shall rule on any petitions or similar
matters regarding the definition of unserved areas or
households. Any definition adopted by the Commission
must consist of an objective measure of a satisfactory sig-
nal obtainable by use of generally-available off-air recep-
tion devices. The Commission shall complete this rule-
making proceeding within such time as to enable any rule
change to become effective no later than February 28,
1999.
(d) NO REMISSION ON PENALTY.—No action taken
by the Commission pursuant to subsection (c) shall relieve
any provider of direct broadcast satellite service from any
liability for any prior violation of section 119(a)(5)(D) of
title 17, United States Code, or from the imposition of
any penalty therefor.
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO
TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE
SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SECOND-
ARY TRANSMISSION BY SATELLITE CARRIERS
WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended by adding after section 121 the
following new section:
‘‘§ 122. Limitations on exclusive rights; secondary
transmission by satellite carriers within
local markets
‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS
OF TELEVISION
BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec-
ondary transmission into the local market of a television
broadcast station of a designated transmission made by
that station and embodying the performance or display of
a work shall be subject to statutory licensing under this
section if—
‘‘(1) the secondary transmission is made by a
satellite carrier to the public; and
‘‘(2) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi-
rect charge for the secondary transmission to—
‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the second-
ary transmission; or
‘‘(B) a distributor that has contracted with
the satellite carrier for direct or indirect deliv-
ery of the secondary transmission to the public.
‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL
LISTS.—A satellite carrier that
makes secondary transmissions of a designated
transmission made by a network station under sub-
section (a) shall, within 90 days after commencing
such secondary transmissions, submit to that station
a list identifying (by name and street address, in-
cluding county and zip code) all subscribers to which
the satellite carrier currently makes secondary trans-
missions of a distant signal of the network with
which such network station is affiliated.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub-
mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier
shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the sta-
tion a list identifying (by name and street address,
including county and zip code) any subscribers who
have been added or dropped as subscribers described
in paragraph (1).
‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub-
scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier