I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3496 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, United States 
Code, to provide greater access to in-State television broadcast program-
ming for cable and satellite subscribers in certain counties. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 
Mr. DUFFY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, 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 and title 17, 
United States Code, to provide greater access to in- 
State television broadcast programming for cable and 
satellite subscribers in certain counties. 
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 ‘‘Granting Our People 
the Ability to Cheer Kickoff Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘GO 
PACK Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. CARRIAGE OF NETWORK STATION SIGNALS IN CER-
TAIN COUNTIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 343. CARRIAGE OF NETWORK STATION SIGNALS IN 
CERTAIN COUNTIES. 
‘‘(a) SUBSCRIBER ELECTION.—A cable operator or 
satellite carrier shall, at the election of a subscriber in a 
covered county with respect to a television network, pro-
vide to such subscriber— 
‘‘(1) retransmission of the signal of any local 
network station that such operator or carrier is re-
quired to retransmit to such subscriber without re-
gard to this section; 
‘‘(2) an in-State, adjacent-market network sta-
tion retransmission; or 
‘‘(3) both such retransmissions. 
‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO LOCAL SIGNAL CARRIAGE 
REQUIREMENTS.—If a subscriber elects to receive only an 
in-State, adjacent-market network station retransmission 
under subsection (a)— 
‘‘(1) the provision of such retransmission to 
such subscriber shall be deemed to fulfill any obliga-
tion of the cable operator or satellite carrier to pro-
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vide to such subscriber the signal of a local network 
station under section 338, 614, or 615; and 
‘‘(2) in the case of a satellite carrier that has 
been recognized as a qualified carrier under section 
119(g) of title 17, United States Code, the provision 
of such retransmission instead of the signal of a 
local network station shall not affect the status of 
the satellite carrier as a qualified carrier for pur-
poses of such section and section 342 of this Act. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT SUBJECT TO TECHNICAL FEASI-
BILITY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A satellite carrier is 
required to provide a retransmission under subsection (a) 
only to the extent that such provision is technically fea-
sible, as determined by the Commission. 
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET 
NETWORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS BY CABLE OPER-
ATORS.— 
‘‘(1) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT EXCEPTION.— 
Section 325(b) shall not apply to an in-State, adja-
cent-market network station retransmission by a 
cable operator to a subscriber residing in a covered 
county. 
‘‘(2) DEEMED SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED.—In the 
case of an in-State, adjacent-market network station 
retransmission by a cable operator to a subscriber 
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ator or a subscriber of a cable operator, respectively; 
and 
‘‘(5) the term ‘local market’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 122(j) of title 17, United 
States Code.’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET 
NETWORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS
BY SATELLITE 
CARRIERS.—Section 339 of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 339) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by adding at the 
end the following: ‘‘In-State, adjacent-market 
network station retransmissions to subscribers 
residing in covered counties shall not count to-
ward the limit set forth in this subparagraph.’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(I) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET
NET-
WORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS.—Nothing in 
this paragraph shall apply to or affect in-State, 
adjacent-market 
network 
station 
retrans-
missions to subscribers residing in covered 
counties.’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(6) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET
NETWORK 
STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad-
jacent-market network station retransmission’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 119(d) of 
title 17, United States Code. 
‘‘(7) COVERED
COUNTY.—The term ‘covered 
county’ has the meaning given such term in section 
119(d) of title 17, United States Code.’’. 
(c) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO RECEIVE SIGNIFI-
CANTLY VIEWED SIGNALS.—Section 340(b)(3) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 340(b)(3)) is 
amended by inserting before the period at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘or to a subscriber who elects under section 
343(a), with respect to the network with which the station 
whose signal is being retransmitted pursuant to this sec-
tion is affiliated, to receive an in-State, adjacent-market 
network station retransmission (as defined in section 
119(d) of title 17, United States Code) instead of the sig-
nal of a local network station (as defined in section 
343(e))’’. 
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SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF COPYRIGHT LICENSE. 
(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF DISTANT TELE-
VISION PROGRAMMING BY SATELLITE.—Section 119 of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘In-State, adjacent-mar-
ket network station retransmissions to sub-
scribers residing in covered counties shall not 
count toward the limit set forth in this clause.’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting at the 
end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(G) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET
NET-
WORK STATION RETRANSMISSIONS.—Nothing in 
this paragraph shall apply to or affect in-State, 
adjacent-market 
network 
station 
retrans-
missions to subscribers residing in covered 
counties.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (10)— 
(i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 
and 
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(iii) by inserting at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) with respect to an in-State, adjacent- 
market network station retransmission, is a 
subscriber residing in a covered county.’’; and 
(B) by inserting at the end the following 
new paragraphs: 
‘‘(16) IN-STATE, ADJACENT-MARKET NETWORK 
STATION RETRANSMISSION.—The term ‘in-State, ad-
jacent-market network station retransmission’ means 
the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of 
the primary transmission of any network station 
whose community of license is located— 
‘‘(A) in a subscriber’s State; and 
‘‘(B) in a local market that is adjacent to 
the subscriber’s local market. 
‘‘(17) COVERED COUNTY.—The term ‘covered 
county’ means, with respect to an in-State, adjacent- 
market network station retransmission to a sub-
scriber, any county to which both of the following 
apply: 
‘‘(A) The county is one of the following 
counties in the State of Wisconsin: Barron, 
Burnett, Dunn, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix, or 
Washburn. 
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‘‘(B) The county is not in the local market 
of any television broadcast station that is affili-
ated with the same network and whose commu-
nity of license is located in the subscriber’s 
State.’’. 
(b) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF LOCAL TELE-
VISION PROGRAMMING BY SATELLITE.—Section 122(a) of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting after 
‘‘under paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘(or in-State, 
adjacent-market network station retransmissions in-
stead of secondary transmissions under such para-
graph, in accordance with an election under section 
343(a) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting after 
‘‘under paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘(or in-State, 
adjacent-market network station retransmissions in-
stead of secondary transmissions under such para-
graph, in accordance with an election under section 
343(a) of the Communications Act of 1934)’’. 
Æ 
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