[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 303 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S.  303

   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance the ability of 
 direct broadcast satellite and other multichannel video providers to 
   compete effectively with cable television systems, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 25, 1999

 Mr. McCain (for himself and Mr. Burns) 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 enhance the ability of 
 direct broadcast satellite and other multichannel video providers to 
   compete effectively with cable television systems, 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 ``Satellite Television Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In the Cable Television Consumer Protection and 
        Competition Act of 1992, Congress stated its policy of 
        promoting competition in cable services and making available to 
        the public a diversity of views and information through cable 
        television and other video media.
            (2) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress stated 
        its policy of securing lower prices and higher quality service 
        for American telecommunications consumers and encouraging the 
        rapid deployment of new telecommunications technologies.
            (3) In most places throughout America, cable television 
        system operators still do not face effective competition from 
        other providers of multichannel video service.
            (4) Absent effective competition, the market power 
        exercised by cable television operators enables them to raise 
        the price of cable service to consumers, and to control the 
        price and availability of cable programming services to other 
        multichannel video service providers. Current Federal 
        Communications Commission rules have been inadequate in 
        constraining cable price increases.
            (5) Direct Broadcast Satellite service has over 8 million 
        subscribers and constitutes the most significant competitive 
        alternative to cable television service.
            (6) Direct Broadcast Satellite Service currently suffers 
        from a number of statutory, regulatory, and technical barriers 
        that keep it from being an effective competitor to cable 
        television in the provision of multichannel video services.
            (7) The most prominent of these barriers is the inability 
        to provide subscribers with local television broadcast signals 
        by satellite.
            (8) Permitting providers of direct broadcast satellite 
        service to retransmit local television signals to their 
        subscribers would greatly enhance the ability of direct 
        broadcast satellite service to compete more effectively in the 
        provision of multichannel video services.
            (9) Due to capacity limitations and in the interest of 
        providing service in as many markets as possible, providers of 
        direct broadcast satellite service, unlike cable television 
        systems, cannot at this time carry all local television 
        broadcast signals in all the local television markets they seek 
        to serve.
            (10) It would be in the public interest for providers of 
        direct broadcast satellite service to fully comply with the 
        mandatory signal carriage rules at the earliest possible date. 
        In the interim, requiring full compliance with the mandatory 
        signal carriage rules would substantially limit the ability of 
        direct broadcast satellite service providers to compete in the 
        provision of multichannel video services and would not serve 
        the public interest.
            (11) Maintaining the viability of free, over-the-air local 
        television service is a matter of preeminent public interest.
            (12) All subscribers to multichannel video services should 
        be able to receive the signal of at least one station 
        affiliated with each of the major broadcast television 
        networks.
            (13) Millions of subscribers to direct broadcast satellite 
        service currently receive the signals of network-affiliated 
        stations not located in these subscribers' local television 
        markets. In those cases where cable service is not available 
        and where conventional rooftop antennas are not effective 
        distant network signals may be these subscribers' only source 
        of network television service.
            (14) There is a direct link between the widespread carriage 
        of distant network stations in local network affiliates' 
        markets and a local affiliate's loss of audience share and 
        revenues, which could in turn harm the station's ability to 
        serve its local community.
            (15) Abrupt termination of satellite carriers' provision of 
        distant network signals could have a negative impact on the 
        ability of direct broadcast satellite service to compete 
        effectively in the provision of multichannel video services.
            (16) The public interest would be served by permitting 
        direct broadcast satellite service providers to continue 
        existing carriage of a distant network affiliate station's 
        signal where--
                    (A) there is no local network affiliate;
                    (B) the local network affiliate cannot be 
                adequately received off-air; or
                    (C) continued carriage would not be likely to 
                materially harm local television service.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to permit subscribers of Direct 
Broadcast Satellite service who currently receive distant network 
stations to continue to receive this service to the extent that the 
Federal Communications Commission affirmatively finds that no local 
station would be likely to sustain audience and revenue loss that would 
materially affect that station's ability to continue to serve its local 
audience.

SEC. 4. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RETRANSMITTING TELEVISION 
              BROADCAST SIGNALS.

    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 thereof the following:

``SEC. 337. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to promote 
competition in the provision of multichannel video services while 
protecting the availability of free, over-the-air television, 
particularly for the 40 percent of American television households that 
do not subscribe to any multichannel video programming service, by--
            ``(1) enabling providers of direct broadcast service to 
        offer their subscribers the signals of local television 
        stations;
            ``(2) protecting the availability of free, over-the-air 
        television broadcasting by requiring satellite carriers who 
        rely on a compulsory copyright license to carry all local 
        stations; and
            ``(3) accommodating, for an interim period, the inability 
        of providers of direct broadcast service from carrying all 
        local signals in all local television markets they seek to 
        serve.
    ``(b) Application of Mandatory Carriage to Satellite Carriers.--The 
mandatory carriage provisions of sections 614 and 615 of the 
Communications Act will apply in a local market no later than January 
1, 2002, to satellite carriers retransmitting any television broadcast 
station in that local market and pursuant to the compulsory license 
provided by section 122 of title 17, United States Code.
    ``(c) Good Signal Required.--A local television broadcast station 
eligible for carriage under subsection (b) may be required to bear the 
costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the 
designated local receive facility of the satellite carrier. The 
selection of a local receive facility by a satellite carrier shall not 
be made in a manner that frustrates the purposes of this Act. The 
Commission shall promulgate any regulations necessary to assure that 
selection of local receive facilities is made in compliance with the 
intent of this Act.
    ``(d) Rulemaking Required.--
            ``(1) Single rulemaking required.--The Commission shall 
        institute a single rulemaking, compliant with subchapter II of 
        chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, to examine the extent 
        to which carriage of distant network stations already provided 
        to subscribers on March 1, 1998, may continue without causing a 
        projected loss of audience and revenue of such magnitude as to 
        cause material harm to the viability of local stations.
            ``(2) Determination required.--As part of the rulemaking 
        required by this subsection, the Commission shall determine 
        whether the application of network exclusivity, syndicated 
        exclusivity, or sports exclusivity rules to carriage of distant 
        network stations would serve the public interest.
            ``(3) Timeframe.--The Commission shall complete all actions 
        necessary to prescribe regulations it may adopt as a result of 
        this rulemaking to be effective within 180 days after the 
        enactment of the Satellite Television Act of 1999. Direct 
        broadcast satellite service providers may continue existing 
        carriage of distant network stations within local stations' 
        Grade B contours until the effective date of such new 
        regulations.
            ``(4) Two-thirds vote required.--Any regulations adopted 
        under this subsection must be adopted by an affirmative vote of 
        at least two-thirds of the members of the Commission.
            ``(5) Certain dbs signals.--Direct broadcast satellite 
        service providers may continue to carry the signals of distant 
        network stations without regard to the provisions of this 
        subsection in any situation in which such carriage would be 
        consistent with rules adopted by the Commission in CS Docket 
        98-201.
    ``(e) Cable Television System Digital Signal Carriage Not 
Covered.--Nothing in this section applies to the carriage of the 
digital signals of television broadcast stations by cable television 
systems.
    ``(f) No Remission of Liability.--No action taken by the Commission 
pursuant to subsection (d) shall relieve any person from any liability 
for any violation of title 17, United States Code, or from the 
imposition of any remedy therefor.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Television broadcast station.--The term `television 
        broadcast station' means a full power local television 
        broadcast station, but does not include a low-power or 
        translator television broadcast station.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) Network station.--The term `network station' means a 
        television broadcast station that is owned or operated by, or 
        affiliated with, a broadcasting network.
            ``(4) Local market.--The term `local market' means the 
        designated market area in which a station is located. For a 
        noncommercial educational television broadcast station, the 
        local market includes any station that is licensed to a 
        community within the same designated market area as the 
        noncommercial educational television broadcast station.
            ``(5) Local receive facility.--The term `local receive 
        facility' means the reception point in the local market of a 
        television broadcast station or in a market contiguous to the 
        local market of a television broadcast station at which a 
        satellite carrier initially receives the signal of the station 
        for purposes of transmission of such signals to the facility 
        which uplinks the signals to the carrier's satellites for 
        secondary transmission to the satellite carrier's subscribers.
            ``(6) Satellite carrier.--The term `satellite carrier' has 
        the meaning given it by section 119(d) of title 17, United 
        States Code.''.D23/

SEC. 5. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

    (a) Amendment of Section 325(b).--Section 325(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended striking the 
subsection designation and paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming 
distributor shall retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or 
any part thereof, except--
            ``(A) with the express authority of the station; or
            ``(B) pursuant to section 614 or section 615, in the case 
        of a station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to 
        assert the right to carriage under such section.
    ``(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to--
            ``(A) retransmission of the signal of a television 
        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) as of July 1, 1998, such station was 
                transmitted under the compulsory license of section 119 
                of title 17, United States Code, by satellite carriers 
                directly to at least 250,000 subscribers;
            ``(B) retransmission of the distant signal of a 
        broadcasting station that is owned or operated by, or 
        affiliated with, a broadcasting network directly to a home 
        satellite antenna, if the subscriber resides in an unserved 
        household; or
            ``(C) retransmission by a cable operator or other 
        multichannel video programming distributor (other than by a 
        satellite carrier direct to its subscribers) of the signal of a 
        television broadcast station outside the station's local 
        market, if such signal was obtained from a satellite carrier 
        and--
                    ``(i) the originating station was a superstation on 
                May 1, 1991; and
                    ``(ii) the originating station was a network 
                station on December 31, 1997, and its signal was 
                retransmitted by a satellite carrier directly to 
                subscribers.
    ``(3) Any term used in this subsection that is defined in section 
337(g) of this Act has the meaning given to it by that section.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) take 
effect on January 1, 1999.

SEC. 6. DESIGNATED MARKET AREAS.

    Nothing in this Act, or in the amendments made by this Act, 
prevents the Federal Communications Commission from revising the 
listing of designated market areas (as defined in this Act) or 
reassigning such areas if the revision or reassignment is done in the 
same manner and to the same extent as the Commission's cable television 
mandatory carriage rules provide.

SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or section 325(b) or 337 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b), 337), or the application 
of that provision to any person or circumstance, is held by a court of 
competent jurisdiction to violate any provision of the Constitution of 
the United States, then the other provisions of that section, and the 
application of that provision to other persons and circumstances, shall 
not be affected.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Terms defined in communications act of 1934.--Any term 
        used in this Act that is defined in section 337(g) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this Act, 
        has the meaning given to it by that section.
            (7) 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 
        Report.
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