[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1046 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1046

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve localism, to foster 
  and promote the diversity of television programming, to foster and 
    promote competition, and to prevent excessive concentration of 
        ownership of the nation's television broadcast stations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 13, 2003

   Mr. Stevens (for himself, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Burns, Mr. Lott, Mr. 
 Dorgan, and Mr. Wyden) 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 preserve localism, to foster 
  and promote the diversity of television programming, to foster and 
    promote competition, and to prevent excessive concentration of 
        ownership of the nation's television broadcast stations.

    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 ``Preservation of Localism, Program 
Diversity, and Competition in Television Broadcast Service Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The principle of localism is embedded in the 
        Communications Act in section 307(b) of the Communications Act 
        of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(b)). It has been the pole star for 
        regulation of the broadcast industry by the Federal 
        Communications Commission for nearly 70 years.
            (2) In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress 
        directed the Federal Communications Commission to increase the 
        limitations on national multiple television ownership so that 
        one party could not own or control television stations whose 
        aggregate national audience reach exceeded 35 percent. Congress 
        did so because it recognized that--
                    (A) further national concentration could not be 
                undone;
                    (B) other regulatory changes, such as the repeal by 
                the Commission of its financial and syndication 
                regulations, would heighten the power of the national 
                television networks; and
                    (C) the independence of non-network-owned stations 
                would be threatened if network ownership exceeded 35 
                percent.
            (3) If a limit to the national audience reach of television 
        stations that one party may own or control is not codified at 
        this time--
                    (A) further national concentration may occur whose 
                pernicious effects may be difficult to eradicate; and
                    (B) the independence of non-network-owned stations 
                will be threatened, placing local stations in danger of 
                becoming mere passive conduits for network 
                transmissions.
            (4) A cap on national multiple television ownership will 
        help preserve localism by limiting the networks' ability to 
        dictate programming aired on local stations.
            (5) The landscape of national ownership has changed 
        dramatically over the past two decades since the time when the 
        networks were limited to owning just seven television stations 
        nationwide:
                    (A) the Commission's financial and syndication 
                regulations have been repealed;
                    (B) the networks can own more than one television 
                station in many local markets;
                    (C) the networks have embraced programming ventures 
                from studios to syndication to foreign sales; and
                    (D) the networks own the most popular cable and 
                Internet content businesses.
        Together these changes have strengthened the networks' hands 
        and given them strong incentives to override local interests.
            (6) Unlike non-network-owned stations which are only 
        concerned with local viewers, network-owned stations have 
        multiple interests they must consider: national advertising 
        interests, syndicated programming interests, foreign sales 
        interests, cable programming interests, and, lastly, local 
        station interests.
            (7) The possibility of further nationalization threatens 
        the current give-and-take between non-network-owned affiliates 
        and networks which can result in programming being edited, 
        scheduled, or promoted in ways that are more appropriate for 
        local audiences.
            (8) As network power has grown in recent years, the 
        networks have forced affiliation agreements to tilt the balance 
        of power even more in their favor. Contract provisions encroach 
        on the ability of non-network-owned affiliates to reject 
        programming that local stations determine not to be in the best 
        interests of their local communities, and local stations are 
        penalized for unauthorized preemptions (as determined by the 
        network) and for exceeding preemption baskets.
            (9) This Act will help to preserve localism in and to 
        prevent the further nationalization of the television broadcast 
        service.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote the values of localism in the television 
        broadcast service;
            (2) to promote diversity of television programming and 
        viewpoints;
            (3) to promote competition; and
            (4) to prevent excessive concentration of ownership by 
        establishing a limit to the national audience reach of the 
        television stations that any one party may own or control.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL TELEVISION MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.

    (a) Establishment of National Television Multiple Ownership 
Limitations.--Part I of Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is 
amended by inserting after section 339 (47 U.S.C. 339) the following 
new section:

``SEC. 340. NATIONAL TELEVISION MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.

    ``(a) National Audience Reach Limitation.--The Commission shall not 
permit any license for a commercial television broadcast station to be 
granted, transferred, or assigned to any party (including all parties 
under common control) if the grant, transfer, or assignment of such 
license would result in such party or any of its stockholders, 
partners, or members, officers, or directors, directly or indirectly, 
owning, operating or controlling, or having a cognizable interest in 
television stations which have an aggregate national audience reach 
exceeding 35 percent.
    ``(b) No Grandfathering.--The Commission shall require any party 
(including all parties under common control) that holds licenses for 
commercial television broadcast stations in excess of the limitation 
contained in subsection (a) to divest itself of such licenses as may be 
necessary to come into compliance with such limitation within one year 
after the date of enactment of this section.
    ``(c) Section Not Subject to Forbearance.--Section 10 of this Act 
shall not apply to the requirements of this section.
    ``(d) Definitions.--
            ``(1) National audience reach.--The term `national audience 
        reach' means--
                    ``(A) the total number of television households in 
                the Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA) markets in 
                which the relevant stations are located, or as 
                determined under a successor measure adopted by the 
                Commission to delineate television markets for purposes 
                of this section; divided by
                    ``(B) the total national television households as 
                measured by such DMA data (or such successor measure) 
                at the time of a grant, transfer, or assignment of a 
                license.
        No market shall be counted more than once in making this 
        calculation.
            ``(2) Cognizable interest.--Except as may otherwise be 
        provided by regulation by the Commission, the term `cognizable 
        interest' means any partnership or direct ownership interest 
        and any voting stock interest amounting to 5 percent or more of 
        the outstanding voting stock of a licensee.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 202(c)(1) of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1934 (P.L. 104-104; 110 Stat. 111) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``its regulations'' and all that follows 
        through ``by eliminating'' and inserting ``its regulations (47 
        CFR 73.3555) by eliminating'';
            (2) by striking ``; and'' at the end of subparagraph (A) 
        and inserting a period; and
            (3) by striking subparagraph (B).
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