Local Television Service and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2018
This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an underserved state, to issue an order providing that the virtual major channel number of such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency channel number of that station.
The order shall apply to a station only if the licensee includes in the request a certification that such station will provide at least one hour daily of news, information, or public affairs programming focused on, or of general interest to, local audiences in the state to which the channel of such station has been reallocated. The order shall cease to apply if the licensee fails to initiate the programming within a 90-day period or fails to make the programming available to other television broadcast stations or through Internet streaming.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6416 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6416
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal
Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency
commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an
underserved State, to provide that the virtual major channel number of
such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency
channel number of such station.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2018
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Payne) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal
Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency
commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an
underserved State, to provide that the virtual major channel number of
such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency
channel number of such station.
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 Service and
Emergency Preparedness Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 307(b)) provides that the Federal Communications
Commission ``shall make such distribution of licenses,
frequencies, hours of operation, and of power among the several
States and communities as to provide a fair, efficient, and
equitable distribution of radio service to each of the same''.
(2) In 1982, Congress added section 331(a) to such Act (47
U.S.C. 331(a)) with the clear intent of providing high quality,
competitive, commercial very high frequency (VHF) television
service identifiable as such to the public in States without
VHF television service. Such section was adopted, in part, to
address the need for focused local news and emergency
information in States without dedicated VHF television service,
and as important, without an in-State Nielsen designated market
area with the usual accompaniment of stations affiliated with
the major networks and oriented toward local news.
(3) Key reasons for ensuring that a VHF station's virtual
major channel number matches its radio frequency channel number
when allocated pursuant to such section 331(a) include the
following:
(A) More comprehensive deployment of the Emergency
Alert System.
(B) Increased public awareness through ongoing,
over-the-air education of crisis management by Federal,
State, and local officials.
(C) Augmented public emergency preparedness.
(D) Enhanced focus and in-State coordination of
communications to facilitate improved public
responsiveness to calls for action from alerts issued
through the Emergency Alert System, whether local,
State, or national in origination.
(E) Continuing comprehensive local news reports and
dissemination of pertinent emergency management
information within a State to which a VHF station
relocates during and following such alerts.
(F) Ensuring viewers will know to select the proper
VHF antenna for over-the-air reception of such
participating Emergency Alert System station.
(G) Having a common universal numerical VHF tuning
address throughout the viewing area ensures an easily
remembered channel number for accessing the VHF station
and Emergency Alert System information.
(4) The right to obtain and retain a matching virtual major
channel number and radio frequency channel number is crucial to
providing high-quality VHF television service as described in
the preceding paragraphs of this section.
SEC. 3. COMMON VIRTUAL MAJOR CHANNEL NUMBER AND RADIO FREQUENCY CHANNEL
NUMBER FOR CERTAIN VHF TELEVISION STATIONS.
Section 331(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 331(a))
is amended--
(1) by striking ``It shall be the policy'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) Policy.--It shall be the policy''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Common virtual major channel number and radio
frequency channel number.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the
submission of a request to the Commission by the
licensee of a station retaining a channel which has
been reallocated and relocated to a community in a
State under paragraph (1) with main facilities in such
State, the Commission shall, subject to subparagraph
(C) but notwithstanding any other provision of law and
its rules, issue an order providing that the channel
numbers described subparagraph (B) shall be considered
to be the same as the number of the radio frequency
channel of the station as specified in the Digital
Television Table of Allotments.
``(B) Channel numbers described.--The channel
numbers described in this subparagraph are the
following:
``(i) The number of the very high frequency
channel on which the station is broadcast over
the air for purposes of section 614(b)(6) and
the associated regulations of the Commission.
``(ii) The virtual major channel number
specified in the Program and System Information
Protocol of the station, as determined under
the ATSC standard entitled `Program and System
Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast
and Cable' (or any successor standard) with
which the rules of the Commission require the
transmission of digital broadcast television
signals to comply.
``(C) Requirements relating to local news,
information, or public affairs programming.--
``(i) Initial certification.--Subparagraph
(A) shall apply with respect to a station only
if the licensee of such station includes in the
request submitted under such subparagraph a
certification that, beginning not later than 90
days after the date of such request, such
station will provide at least one hour daily of
news, information, or public affairs
programming focused on, or of general interest
to, local audiences in the State to which the
channel of such station has been reallocated
under paragraph (1).
``(ii) Initiation and continuation of
programming; annual recertification.--
Subparagraph (A) shall cease to apply with
respect to a station if the licensee of such
station fails to--
``(I) initiate the programming
described in clause (i) within the 90-
day timeframe described in such clause;
``(II) produce and air the
programming described in clause (i) on
a continuing basis; or
``(III) recertify on an annual
basis that such station is providing
the programming described in clause
(i).
``(iii) Availability to other television
stations and services.--Subparagraph (A) shall
cease to apply with respect to a station if the
licensee of such station fails to--
``(I) make available, on a
reasonable basis, the programming
described in clause (i) to other
television broadcast stations and other
television distribution services (such
as cable or satellite television
systems), for distribution outside the
Nielsen designated market area of the
station the channel of which has been
reallocated under paragraph (1) but
within the State to which such channel
has been so reallocated; or
``(II) after the programming
described in clause (i) has aired, make
such programming available through
streaming on the internet.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line