[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2052 Introduced in House (IH)]
1st Session
H. R. 2052
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 9, 2003
Mr. Burr (for himself, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Price of
North Carolina, and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
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 (Public Law 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).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
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