[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 942 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 942

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reduce restrictions on media 
                   ownership, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 1999

   Mr. Stearns (for himself, Mr. Frost, Mr. Oxley, Mr. McCollum, Mr. 
Foley, Mrs. Meek of Florida, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reduce restrictions on media 
                   ownership, 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 ``Broadcast Ownership for the 21st 
Century Act''.

SEC. 2. REVISION OF DUOPOLY RULES.

    Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 338. REVISION OF DUOPOLY RULES.

    ``(a) Limitation on Duopoly Rules.--The Commission shall not 
prohibit a person or entity directly from owning, operating, or 
controlling or having a cognizable interest in--
            ``(1) two stations with overlapping coverage contours if 
        each station is located in a separate television market, or
            ``(2) two television stations within the same television 
        market, if at least one of such stations is a UHF television 
        station.
    ``(b) Protection of Existing Local Marketing Agreements.--All local 
marketing or time brokerage agreements between two broadcast television 
stations, located in the same television market, that were signed prior 
to the date of enactment of the Broadcast Ownership for the 21st 
Century Act, shall be exempt from the television duopoly rule. The 
Commission shall take no action that impairs the renewability or 
transferability (or both) of these arrangements by either the parties 
or their successors or assigns.
    ``(c) VHF Stations.--The Commission, in unusual and compelling 
circumstances, may permit a person or entity to directly or indirectly 
own, operate, or control or have a cognizable interest in, two VHF 
television stations within the same television market, if the applicant 
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Commission that permitting such 
ownership, operation, or control will not significantly harm 
competition and will not significantly harm the preservation of a 
diversity of media voices in the local television market.''.

SEC. 3. CROSS-OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.

    (a) Rule Changes Required.--The Federal Communications Commission 
shall modify section 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555)--
            (1) by eliminating any provisions limiting the granting or 
        renewal of an AM, FM, or TV broadcast station license to any 
        party (including parties under common control) on the basis of 
        the ownership, operation, or control by such party of a daily 
        newspaper; and
            (2) by eliminating the one-to-a-market rule in section 
        73.3555(c) of such regulations.
    (b) Preservation of Cognizable Interest Rule.--In modifying such 
section 73.3555 of its regulations, the Commission shall not treat a 
minority voting stock interest as a cognizable interest if there is a 
single holder of more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting stock 
of the corporate broadcast licensee, cable television system, or daily 
newspaper in which the minority interest is held.
    (c) Cable Cross-Ownership Limitations.--Section 613(c) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(c)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commission may not 
prohibit or limit a person or entity from holding any form of ownership 
or other interest in a broadcasting station and a cable system serving 
the same community.''.
    (d) Dual-Network Rules.--The Federal Communications Commission 
shall revise section 73.658(g) of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.658(g)) 
to permit a television broadcast station to affiliate with--
            ``(1) a person or entity that maintains two or more 
        networks of television broadcast stations unless such dual or 
        multiple networks are composed of two or more persons or 
        entities that, on February 8, 1996, offered an interconnected 
        program service on a regular basis for 15 hours or more per 
        week to at least 25 affiliated television licensees in 10 or 
more States; or
            ``(2) any person or entity controlling, controlled by, or 
        under common control with such a person or entity described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (e) Deadline for Actions.--The Federal Communications Commission 
shall complete all actions necessary to complete the modifications 
required by this section within 90 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AUTHORITY.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 202(c)(1)(B) of the Telecommunications Act 
of 1996 is amended by striking ``35 percent'' and inserting ``45 
percent''.
    (b) Deadline for Implementation.--The Federal Communications 
Commission shall amend its regulations to implement the amendment made 
by subsection (a) within 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act. In amending such regulations, the Commission shall not revise 
section 73.3555(e)(2)(i) of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 
73.3555(e)(2)(i)).

SEC. 5. RECIPROCAL TREATMENT OF FOREIGN OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS.

    Subsection (b) of section 310 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 310(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Foreign Ownership Limitations.--
            ``(1) In general.--No broadcast or common carrier or 
        aeronautical en route or aeronautical fixed radio station 
        license shall be granted to or held by--
                    ``(A) any alien or the representative of any alien;
                    ``(B) any corporation organized under the laws of 
                any foreign country;
                    ``(C) any corporation of which more than one-fifth 
                of any class of the capital stock is owned of record or 
                voted by aliens or their representatives or by a 
                foreign government or representative thereof or by any 
                corporation organized under the laws of a foreign 
                country;
                    ``(D) any corporation directly or indirectly 
                controlled by any other corporation of which more than 
                one-fourth of any class of the capital stock is owned 
                of record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or 
                by a foreign government or representative thereof, or 
                by any corporation organized under the laws of a 
                foreign country, if the Commission finds that the 
                public interest will be served by the refusal or 
                revocation of such license.
            ``(2) Reciprocal treatment for broadcast stations.--In the 
        case of a broadcast station license, if the foreign country or 
        foreign government referred to in subparagraph (C) or (D) of 
        paragraph of (1) regularly permits broadcast station licenses 
        to be granted to or held by--
                    ``(A) any corporation of which more than one-fifth 
                of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by one 
                or more United States persons;
                    ``(B) any corporation directly or indirectly 
                controlled by any other corporation of which more than 
                one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of record or 
                voted by one or more United States persons;
        then the Commission shall apply such subparagraphs (C) and (D) 
        by permitting an alien, corporation, government, or 
        representative from such foreign country to own a portion of 
        the class of the capital stock of the corporation seeking or 
        holding the broadcast station license equal to the portion of 
        the corresponding class of the capital stock of a corporation 
        holding a broadcast station license in such foreign country 
        that are permitted by such foreign country or foreign 
        government to be held by an individual citizen, corporation, 
        government, or representative from the United States, except 
        that the Commission shall not be required by this paragraph to 
        permit a portion of such capital stock ownership representing 
        voting stock higher than 40 percent.
            ``(3) Definition of united states persons.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (2), the term `United States person' means--
                    ``(A) any corporation organized under the laws of a 
                State;
                    ``(B) an individual who is a citizen of the United 
                States;
                    ``(C) a government of the United States or any 
                State; or
                    ``(D) a representative of any of the individuals or 
                entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 
                this paragraph.''.
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