[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3302 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3302
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prevent excessive
concentration of ownership of the nation's media outlets, to restore
fairness in broadcasting, and to foster and promote localism,
diversity, and competition in the media.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2005
Mr. Hinchey (for himself, Ms. Watson, Ms. Lee, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Kaptur,
Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. Waters, Mr. Stark, Mr.
Filner, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Solis, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Hastings of Florida,
Mr. Owens, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prevent excessive
concentration of ownership of the nation's media outlets, to restore
fairness in broadcasting, and to foster and promote localism,
diversity, and competition in the media.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Media Ownership
Reform Act of 2005''.
(b) Table of Contents.--
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Fairness in broadcasting.
Sec. 4. Broadcasting ownership limitations.
Sec. 5. Invalidation of media ownership deregulation.
Sec. 6. Review process for media ownership.
Sec. 7. Public interest reports.
Sec. 8. Prevention of programming vertical integration.
Sec. 9. Implementation.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Communications Act of 1934 requires the Federal
Communications Commission and broadcast licensees to promote
the public interest. The Commission has long had rules in place
to promote the goals of localism, diversity, and competition.
(2) The Supreme Court, on numerous occasions, has upheld
the Commission's and Congress's right to establish media
protections because a monopolization of ideas is antithetical
to our democracy.
(3) In 1945, the Supreme Court declared, ``the widest
possible dissemination of information from diverse and
antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public,
that a free press is a condition of a free society''.
(4) In 1969, the Supreme Court declared, ``it is the
purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an uninhibited
marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail,
rather than to countenance monopolization of that market,
whether it be by the Government itself or a private licensee''.
(5) Over the past two decades there has been a gradual
shift of control in the public's airwaves into the hands of
fewer private entities.
(6) Private entities can exert control over the public's
access to information as many of the rules designed to foster
diversity, competition, localism, and production of independent
news and entertainment have been weakened or repealed.
(7) The past two decades have produced technological
advances. Approximately 80 percent of U.S. households subscribe
to cable or satellite systems offering multiple channels of
video programming. The rapid growth of the Internet added
another source of information to traditional media outlets.
Over 71 percent of Americans have some form of online access.
(8) These advances have dramatically increased the number
of information pipelines into Americans' homes. Despite the
increase in information outlets, ownership and control of those
is shrinking. A handful of companies control a large portion of
both programming and distribution. Five companies now own the
broadcast networks, 90 percent of the top 50 cable networks,
produce three-quarters of all prime time programming, and
control 70 percent of the prime time television market share.
The same companies that own the nation's most popular
newspapers and networks also own over 85 percent of the top 20
Internet news sites.
(9) While the Internet has become a new source of
information, the vast majority of Americans continue to rely on
television, newspaper, and radio as their primary sources of
news information. Ownership of traditional news sources has
been consolidated over the past 25 years. Two-thirds of
America's independent newspapers have been lost since 1975 and
according to the Department of Justice's Merger Guidelines
every local newspaper market in the U.S. is highly
concentrated.
(10) One-third of America's independent TV stations have
vanished since 1975 and there has been a 34 percent decline in
the number of radio station owners since the Telecommunications
Act of 1996. There has been a severe decline in the number of
minority owned broadcast stations. At the end of the 1990's,
minorities owned just 1.9 percent of the U.S. television
stations and 4 percent of the nation's AM and FM radio
stations.
(11) As the major networks have been allowed greater
vertical integration, the percentage of independently produced
pilots and new series on the four national broadcast networks
has declined from 87.5 percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent in 2002.
(12) The weakening of media protections, and subsequent
consolidation of the media industry, has allowed companies to
ignore their obligations to serve the public interest and
severely reduce localism, diversity, and competition in today's
media.
(13) The current state of today's media threatens the
ability of our democracy to function because it does not allow
for ``the widest possible dissemination of information from
diverse and antagonistic sources'' and shrinks the marketplace
of ideas.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to inform the public of the scope of media rules and
regulations that have been weakened and lost over the past two
decades;
(2) to restore fairness in broadcasting;
(3) to reduce media concentration;
(4) to ensure that broadcasters meet their public interest
requirements; and
(5) to promote diversity, localism, and competition in
American media
SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BROADCASTING.
Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d) as
subsections (b) through (e), respectively; and
(2) by inserting before subsection (b) the following new
subsection:
``(a) Public Interest Obligation to Cover Publicly Important
Issues.--A broadcast licensee shall afford reasonable opportunity for
the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance. The
enforcement and application of the requirement imposed by this
subsection shall be consistent with the rules and policies of the
Commission in effect on January 1, 1987.''.
SEC. 4. BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.
(a) Establishment of Broadcasting 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. BROADCASTING MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.
``(a) National Television 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 25 percent.
``(b) Radio Ownership Limitations.--
``(1) National radio ownership limitations.--The Commission
shall modify section 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R.
73.3555) to establish provisions limiting the number of AM or
FM broadcast stations which may be owned or controlled by one
entity nationally. Such limitation shall not exceed 5 percent
of the total number of AM and FM broadcast stations.
``(2) Local radio ownership limitations.--The Commission
shall revise section 73.3555(a) of its regulations (47 C.F.R.
73.3555) to provide that--
``(A) in a radio market with 45 or more commercial
radio stations, a party may own, operate, or control up
to 5 commercial radio stations, not more than 3 of
which are in the same service (AM or FM);
``(B) in a radio market with between 30 and 44
(inclusive) commercial radio stations, a party may own,
operate, or control up to 4 commercial radio stations,
not more than 2 of which are in the same service (AM or
FM);
``(C) in a radio market with between 15 and 29
(inclusive) commercial radio stations, a party may own,
operate, or control up to 3 commercial radio stations,
not more than 2 of which are in the same service (AM or
FM), except that a party may not own, operate, or
control more than 25 percent of the stations in such
market; and
``(D) in a radio market with 14 or fewer commercial
radio stations, a party may own, operate, or control up
to 3 commercial radio stations, not more than 2 of
which are in the same service (AM or FM), except that a
party may not own, operate, or control more than 40
percent of the stations in such market.
``(c) Cable/Broadcasting Ownership Restrictions.--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
such station and directly or indirectly owning or controlling a cable
television system whose service area overlaps in whole or in part with
such television broadcast station's predicted Grade B contour, computed
in accordance with section 73.684 of the Commission's regulations (47
C.F.R. 73.684).
``(d) Satellite/Broadcasting Ownership Restriction.--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
such station and directly or indirectly owning or controlling a
satellite carrier that provides service to customers who are located
within such television broadcast station's predicted Grade B contour,
computed in accordance with section 73.684 of the Commission's
regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.684).
``(e) No Grandfathering.--The Commission shall require any party
(including all parties under common control) that holds licenses for
commercial broadcast stations in excess of the limitations contained in
subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d) 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.
``(f) Section not Subject to Forbearance.--Section 10 of this Act
shall not apply to the requirements of this section.
``(g) 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. The Commission shall not provide any discount in
the measurement of national audience reach for UHF stations, or
on the basis of any other class or category of television
station.
``(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) Duration of Licences.--
(1) Amendment.--Section 307(c)(1) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``8
years'' each place it appears and inserting ``3 years''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall be effective with respect to any license granted by the
Federal Communications Commission after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 629 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice,
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 2004, is repealed. Subject to the amendments made by this
subsection, section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
shall be applied as if such section 629 had not been enacted.
This paragraph shall be effective as if enacted on the day
after the date of enactment of Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2004.
(2) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 202 of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104; 110 Stat.
110) are repealed
(3) Section 202(c)(1) of such Act is amended--
(A) by striking ``its regulations'' and all that
follows through ``by eliminating'' and inserting ``its
regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) by eliminating'';
(B) by striking ``; and'' at the end of
subparagraph (A) and inserting a period; and
(C) by striking subparagraph (B).
SEC. 5. INVALIDATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP DEREGULATION.
(a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``media
ownership proceeding'' means the Federal Communications Commission
proceeding on broadcast media ownership rules (MB Docket No. 02-277, MM
Docket No. 01-235, MM Docket No. 01-317, and MM Docket No. 00-244).
(b) New Rules Invalidated.--Except as provided in subsection (d),
the final rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission
pursuant to its media ownership proceeding, and announced by the
Commission on June 2, 2003, shall be invalid and without legal effect.
(c) Reinstatement of Previous Rules.--Except as provided in
subsection (d), any rule of the Federal Communications Commission that
was in effect on June 1, 2003, and that was amended, repealed, or
otherwise modified by the Commission pursuant to the media ownership
proceeding is hereby reinstated as it was in effect on June 1, 2003.
Any such rule shall be applied and enforced both prospectively after
the date of enactment of this Act and retroactively to June 2, 2003, as
if the media ownership proceeding had not occurred.
(d) Exception.--This section shall not apply to the limitations
required by section 340 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by
section 4 of this Act.
(e) Use of Biennial Review Prohibited.--The Federal Communications
Commission shall not apply section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 or section 11(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
161(b)) to any review of broadcast media ownership rules after the date
of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. REVIEW PROCESS FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP.
(a) Three-Year Review Process.--The Commission shall, once each 3
years beginning in 2006, conduct a review of--
(1) how the Commission's regulations concerning media
ownership promote and protect localism, competition, diversity
of voices in the media, diversity in broadcast ownership,
children's programming, small and local broadcasters,
technological advancement; and
(2) what regulations should be strengthened, added,
eliminated, or altered, consistent with the priorities
described in paragraph (1).
(b) Report to Congress.--The Commission shall, promptly after the
conclusion of each review under subsection (a), submit a report thereon
to Congress.
(c) Publication of Final Rules Prior to Comment; Hearings.--Before
issuing any final rule concerning limitations on media ownership, the
Commission shall--
(1) publish such rule in the Federal Register;
(2) conduct not less than 5 public hearings in various
regions of the country to afford the public a reasonable
opportunity to comment on such rule; and
(3) widely advertise the time and place of such hearings in
advance.
SEC. 7. PUBLIC INTEREST REPORTS.
Section 309(k) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k))
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(5) Public interest service reports required.--
``(A) Report and hearings.--For the purposes of
enabling the Commission to render the determinations
required by paragraph (1)(A), each broadcast licensee
shall--
``(i) at least once every 2 years, submit
to the Commission and publish, or otherwise
make broadly available to the public at no
cost, a report on how the broadcast station is
meeting the requirement to serve the public
interest in accordance with subparagraph (B);
and
``(ii) conduct public hearings in
accordance with subparagraph (C).
``(B) Report contents.-- The information in the
report required by subparagraph (A)(i) shall include--
``(i) the broadcaster's attempts to
ascertain and satisfy local community needs;
``(ii) the broadcaster's use of public
service announcements;
``(iii) the level and variety of the
broadcaster's children's programming and the
extent of the broadcaster's restraint from
improper commercial advertising during
children's programming; and
``(iv) the level and variety of the
broadcaster's nonentertainment programming,
particularly public affairs programming;
``(v) the broadcaster's proposals for
future programming; and
``(vi) the broadcaster's coverage of issues
important to its local communities, and how
that coverage reflects the diverse interests
and viewpoints of that local community.
``(C) Public interest hearings.--Each broadcast
licensee shall hold at least two public hearings each
year in its community of license during the term of
each license to ascertain the needs and interests of
the communities they are licensed to serve. One hearing
shall take place two months prior to the date of
application for license issuance or renewal. The
licensee shall, on a timely basis, place transcripts of
these hearings in the station's public file, make such
transcripts available via the Internet or other
electronic means, and submit such transcripts to the
Commission as a part any license renewal application.
All interested parties shall be afforded the
opportunity to participate in such hearings.''.
SEC. 8. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL INTEGRATION.
Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by
inserting after section 340 (as added by section 3) the following new
section:
``SEC. 341. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL INTEGRATION.
``(a) Limitations on Vertical Integration in the Acquisition of
Programming.--The Commission shall, in accordance with subsection (b),
prescribe rules to prevent the persons controlling the distribution of
video programming over network distribution systems from acquiring
unreasonable proportions of such programming from subsidiaries or
affiliates contrary to the public interest in the goals of diversity
and competition in the media marketplace.
``(b) Minimum Standards.--The rules required by subsection (a)
shall, at a minimum--
``(1) for any of the four largest national television
networks, prohibit such network from distributing network
produced programming over such network in an amount that
exceeds, for any month, more than 60 percent of their primetime
programming;
``(2) for any other national television network, other than
a network described in paragraph (3), prohibit such network
from distributing network produced programming over such
network in an amount that exceeds, for any month, more than 70
percent of their primetime programming;
``(3) for a national television network that has been in
operation for less than 3 years, prohibit such network from
distributing network produced programming over such network in
an amount that exceeds, for any month, more than 90 percent of
their primetime programming;
``(4) for a cable network that is owned or controlled by a
large cable operator or by a national television network,
prohibit such network from distributing network produced
programming over such networks in an amount that exceeds, for
any month, more than 65 percent of their primetime programming;
and
``(5) for any other cable networks, prohibit such network
from distributing network produced programming over such
network in an amount that exceeds, for any month, more than 75
percent of their primetime programming.
``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section:
``(1) Network produced programming.--The term `network
produced programming' means programming that is owned or
produced by an entity controlled by or affiliated with the same
entity owning or controlling the network, or one over which the
network has sole or joint creative control, acts as the
distributor, or has a financial interest, but does not include
programming that is owned or produced, or under the sole
creative control, by an affiliated television broadcast station
that is not owned or controlled by such network.
``(2) Primetime programming.--The term `primetime
programming' means programming broadcast during the hours of 8
p.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Sunday, but does not include
newscasts, sports programs, or telecasts of feature films.
``(3) Cable network.--The term `cable network' means a
cable channel that broadcasts video programming which is
primarily intended for the direct receipt by a cable operator
or a satellite operator for their retransmission to cable or
satellite subscribers, but does not include a cable channel
that reaches less than 16 million cable households.
``(4) Large cable operator.--The term `large cable
operator' means a cable operator, as such term is defined in
section 602, that has 3,000,000 or more subscribers in the
aggregate nationwide.''.
SEC. 9. IMPLEMENTATION.
Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Federal Communications Commission shall complete all actions necessary
to prescribe regulations, or changes in regulations, to carry out the
amendments made by this Act.
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