To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit the
retransmission of signals of local television broadcast stations in an adjacent
underserved county, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2009
Mr. Ross (for
himself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts,
Mrs. Lummis,
Mr. Herger,
Mr. Boren,
Mr. Tanner,
Mr. Childers,
Mr. Smith of Nebraska,
Mr. Berry,
Mr. McGovern, and
Mr. Hill) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit the
retransmission of signals of local television broadcast stations in an adjacent
underserved county, 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
“Local Television Freedom Act of
2009”.
SEC. 2. Carriage of
stations in an adjacent underserved county under the Communications Act of
1934.
(a) Retransmission
Consent.—Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph
(2)—
(A) by striking
“or” at the end of subparagraph (D);
(B) by striking the
period at the end of subparagraph (E) and inserting “; or”;
(C) by inserting after
subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph:
“(F) to retransmission of the signals of a
television broadcast station by a multichannel video programming distributor to
a subscriber located in the station’s adjacent underserved county, unless the
station certifies to the multichannel video programming distributor that it is
under no legal obligation restricting its ability to grant retransmission
consent to such multichannel video programming
distributor.”;
and
(D) in the last
sentence, by striking “the term ‘local market’ has the
meaning given that term” and inserting “the terms ‘local
market’ and ‘adjacent underserved county’ have the meanings
given such terms”; and
(2) by inserting after
paragraph (7) the following new paragraph:
“(8) A television broadcast station that elects
retransmission consent may not request as a condition to receiving
retransmission consent that a multichannel video programming distributor not
exercise its right to carry any other broadcast station in the station’s
adjacent underserved
county.”.
(b) Certification
rulemaking required.—Within 120 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission (in this Act referred to as
the “Commission”) shall complete all actions necessary to
promulgate rules governing the certification provided by the television
broadcast station under section 325(b)(2)(F) of the Communications Act of 1934
(as added by subsection (a)(1)(C) of this Act).
(c) Carriage of
Distant Signals.—Section
339(a)(1)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 339(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting
“or adjacent underserved county” after “local
market”.
(d) Rulemaking
Required.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall commence a proceeding to revise the regulations concerning
network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity protection, and
sports blackout protection (part 76 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations)
against the retransmission by a multichannel video programming distributor of
signals of television broadcast stations to permit such retransmission if the
subscriber receiving the signals is located in the station’s adjacent
underserved county, as such term is defined in section 122(j)(6) of title 17,
United States Code (as added by section 3(a)(5) of this Act).
(2) CONTENTS OF
REGULATIONS.—Regulations
issued pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prohibit a multichannel video
programming distributor from retransmitting the signal of a television
broadcast station in the station’s adjacent underserved county unless the
multichannel video programming distributor offers service in such county
pursuant to sections 338, 614, or 615 of the Communications Act of 1934 and
carries the signals of any station required to be carried in such county under
such sections.
(3) DEADLINE FOR
ACTION.—The Commission shall complete all actions necessary to
prescribe the revised regulations required by paragraph (1) within 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. Carriage of
stations in an adjacent underserved county under the Copyright Act.
(a) Satellite
carriers.—Section 122 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a),
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting “or adjacent
underserved county” after “station’s local market”;
(2) in subsections (d)
and (e), by inserting “or adjacent underserved county” after
“into the local market”;
(3) in subsection (f),
by inserting “or adjacent underserved county” after
“station’s local market” in paragraphs (1) and (2);
(4) in
subsection (g), by inserting “or adjacent underserved county”
after “station’s local market”; and
(5) in subsection (j),
by adding at the end the following:
“(6) ADJACENT
UNDERSERVED COUNTY.—The term ‘adjacent underserved
county’, in the case of both commercial and noncommercial television
broadcast stations, means a county within the station’s adjacent market that is
both—
“(A) located in the
same State as the station’s community of license; and
“(B) not within the
local market of any other station that is both affiliated with the same network
and located in the same State as such other station’s community of
license.
“(7) ADJACENT
MARKET.—
“(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘adjacent market’, in the case of
both commercial and noncommercial television broadcast stations, means any
local market adjacent to, and partially but not entirely in the same State as,
the local market in which the station’s community of license is located.
“(B) TREATMENT OF
CERTAIN COUNTIES.—A county that is in a local market containing no
in-State network stations, but which is not located in the adjacent market (as
defined under subparagraph (A)) of any in-State network station, shall be
considered to be the adjacent market of the nearest local market located in
whole or in part within the State in which the county is
located.”.
(b) Cable
systems.—Section 111(a) of title 17, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (4),
by striking “or” after the semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (5),
by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
(3) by adding at the
end the following:
“(6) the secondary
transmission is to a subscriber in a broadcast station’s adjacent underserved
county, in accordance with the same terms, conditions, and definitions as apply
under section
122.”.
