[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1427 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1427

    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
  Communications Commission to preserve low-power television stations 
      that provide community broadcasting, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 7, 1997

   Mr. Ford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
  Communications Commission to preserve low-power television stations 
      that provide community broadcasting, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Broadcasters Protection 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Since the creation of low-power television licenses by 
        the Federal Communications Commission, a small number of 
        license holders have operated their stations in a manner 
        beneficial to the public good providing broadcasting to their 
        communities that would not otherwise be available.
            (2) These low-power broadcasters have operated their 
        stations in a manner consistent with the programming objectives 
        and hours of operation of full-power broadcasters providing 
        worthwhile services to their respective communities while under 
        severe license limitations compared to their full-power 
        counterparts.
            (3) License limitations, particularly the temporary nature 
        of the license, have blocked many low-power broadcasters from 
        having access to capital, and have severely hampered their 
        ability to continue to provide quality broadcasting, 
        programming, or improvements.
            (4) The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has 
        added to the uncertainty of the future status of these stations 
        by the lack of specific provisions regarding the permanency of 
        their licenses, or their treatment during the transition to 
        high definition, digital television.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TELEVISION BROADCASTING.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 336 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 336) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections 
        (g) and (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(f) Preservation of Low-Power Community Television 
Broadcasting.--
            ``(1 Creation of class a licenses.--Within 30 days after 
        the date of enactment of the Community Broadcasters Protection 
        Act of 1997, the Commission shall prescribe regulations to 
        establish a class A television license to be available to 
        licensees of qualifying low-power television stations. Such 
        license shall be subject to the same license terms, and renewal 
        standards as the licenses for full-power television stations 
        except as provided in this section, and each class A licensee 
        shall be accorded primary status as a television broadcaster as 
        long as the station continues to meet the requirements for a 
        qualifying low-power station in subsection (2). Within 30 days 
        after such regulations are adopted, the Commission shall send a 
        notice to the licensees of all low-power television licenses of 
        the terms of this section. The Commission shall, within 30 days 
        after receipt of an application that is acceptable for filing, 
        award such a class A television station license to any licensee 
        of a qualifying low-power television station.
            ``(2) Qualifying low-power television stations.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, a station is a qualifying low-
        power television station if--
                    ``(A) within 24 months after the date of enactment 
                of the Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1997 
                and for 6 months prior to the filing of its Class A 
                license application--
                            ``(i) such station broadcast a minimum of 
                        18 hours per day;
                            ``(ii) such station broadcast an average of 
                        at least 3 hours per week of programming that 
                        was produced within the market area served by 
                        such station, or the market area served by a 
                        group of commonly controlled stations that 
                        carry common local or specialized programming 
                        not otherwise available to their communities; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) such station was in compliance with 
                        the Commission's requirements applicable to 
                        low-power television stations; and
                    ``(B) from and after the date of its application 
                for a Class A license, the station is in compliance 
                with the Commission's operating rules for full power 
                television stations; or
                    ``(C) the Commission determines that the public 
                interest, convenience, and necessity would be served by 
                treating the station as a qualifying low-power 
                television station for purposes of this section, or for 
                other reasons determined by the Commission.
            ``(3) Common ownership.--No low-power television station 
        shall be disqualified for a class A license based on common 
        ownership with any other medium of mass communication.
            ``(4) Issuance of licenses for advanced television services 
        to qualifying low-power television stations.--The Commission is 
        not required to issue any additional licenses for advanced 
        television services to the licensees of the class A television 
        stations but shall approve such license applications proposing 
        facilities that will not cause interference to any other 
        broadcast facility authorized on the date of filing of the 
        Class A advanced television application. Such a licensee may, 
        at the option of licensee, elect to convert to the provision of 
        advanced television services on its analog channel, but shall 
        not be required to convert to digital operation until the 
        Commission requires the use of digital or other advanced 
        technologies by all full-power television stations.
            ``(5) Preservation of class a stations.--Except as 
        expressly permitted by this paragraph, no licensee of a class A 
        television station shall be required to cease operations, nor 
        shall the license of such a licensee be rescinded or otherwise 
        terminated, for the purposes of implementing any amendments to 
        the table of allotments adopted before the date of enactment of 
        the Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1997 to provide 
        additional licenses for advanced television services. The 
        Commission may order such a cessation, rescission, or 
        termination only after compliance with the following 
        requirements:
                    ``(A) The Commission shall revise such table of 
                allotments to preserve each class A station unless the 
                preservation of such station (i) would render 
                impossible the assignment of an additional license for 
                advanced television services to a full-power station, 
                (ii) would require the Commission to revoke or rescind 
                a construction permit issued to such full-power 
                station, or (iii) would cause a significant delay or 
                increase in cost of the construction of a digital 
                television facility by a network-affiliated analog 
                station licensee in the top 30 markets.
                    ``(B) If the Commission cannot revise the table of 
                allotments to preserve a class A station as required by 
                subparagraph (A), the Commission shall, to the maximum 
                extent possible, revise the table of allotments to 
                preserve the class A station in the same community of 
                license, using the same facilities, by assigning to 
                such station a different frequency.
                    ``(C) If the Commission cannot revise the table of 
                allotments to preserve a class A station as required by 
                subparagraph (A) or (B), the Commission shall seek to 
                provide such licensee with a class A license in a 
                community of license that is adjacent to the station's 
                previous community of license.
                    ``(D) If the Commission cannot preserve a class A 
                station as required by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), 
                the Commission shall award such licensee the license 
                for another station in another community of license 
                acceptable to the licensee, to the extent that the 
                license for such other station is available. Such a 
                licensee shall be preferred in the award of such other 
                station license over any other applicant (other than 
                another licensee of a class A television station that 
                is required to relinquish its existing license).''
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