Problem:  Over the past 30 years Congress has been relaxing the laws that govern media companies that had been designed to ensure that they honored their responsibility to serve the public good.  One of these laws was the Fairness Doctrine which required media outlets that allowed political commentary to offer equal time to parties with opposing points of view.  This prevented access to the media being limited to those with large amounts of funding behind them.  These restrictions were enacted in recognition that media companies utilize public resources such as the public airwaves and therefore have a responsibility to serve the public fairly and equally.  The Fairness Doctrine has been eliminated and now the only parties that are able to afford media access are those backed by large amounts of money.  The average Congressperson has to raise about $2,000 a day the entire time they are in office to be able to purchase enough media time to have a chance of reelection.

The telecommunications act of 1996 allowed media consolation to the point where only a handful of companies now own virtually all the major media outlets in the US.

Democracy depends on equal access to the media in order to ensure that every voice can be heard.  The Founders of the US understood this and made freedom of the press the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Solution:  Currently there is a bill before Congress that reinstates and improves upon many of the rules and restrictions that helped to prevent excessive consolidation and unbalanced access to media in the past.  H.R. 3302 the Media Ownership Reform Act 0f 2005 is currently before the House and is designed 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.  The passing of H.R. 3302 would provide the following measures:

-Restore the Fairness Doctrine

-Reinstate a national cap on the number of radio stations one company can own.

-Lower the number of radio stations one company can own in a local market.

-Restore the cap on television station ownership that barred one company from controlling communications to more than 25 percent of American households.

-Require regular public interest reports from broadcasters, require broadcasters to meet basic obligations to the communities they serve, and establish procedures for increasing and maintaining public input regarding broadcast issues.

-Provide access for independently produced programming on television.

Following is the complete text of this proposed new bill.  If you feel in favor of this bill contact your Congressional Representative and let them know how important this issue is to you.

109th U.S. Congress (2005-2006)

H.R. 3302: Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005

Introduced:  July 14, 2005

Sponsor:  Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]

Status:  Introduced

109TH CONGRESS

                        H. R. 3302

   1ST SESSION

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. KAP-

    TUR, 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 exces-

    sive 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.

 1         Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 3   SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

 4         (a) SHORT TITLE.--This Act may be cited as the

 5 ``Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005''.

 6         (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.--

                                            2

     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.

1    SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

 2           (a) FINDINGS.--The Congress finds the following:

 3                    (1) The Communications Act of 1934 requires

4            the Federal Communications Commission and broad-

5            cast licensees to promote the public interest. The

6            Commission has long had rules in place to promote

7            the goals of localism, diversity, and competition.

 8                    (2) The Supreme Court, on numerous occa-

9            sions, has upheld the Commission's and Congress's

10           right to establish media protections because a mo-

11           nopolization of ideas is antithetical to our democ-

12           racy.

13                    (3) In 1945, the Supreme Court declared, ``the

14           widest possible dissemination of information from di-

15           verse and antagonistic sources is essential to the

16           welfare of the public, that a free press is a condition

17           of a free society''.

18                    (4) In 1969, the Supreme Court declared, ``it is

19           the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an

20           uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will

21           ultimately prevail, rather than to countenance mo-

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 1      nopolization of that market, whether it be by the

 2      Government itself or a private licensee''.

 3           (5) Over the past two decades there has been

 4      a gradual shift of control in the public's airwaves

 5      into the hands of fewer private entities.

 6           (6) Private entities can exert control over the

 7      public's access to information as many of the rules

 8      designed to foster diversity, competition, localism,

 9      and production of independent news and entertain-

10      ment have been weakened or repealed.

11           (7) The past two decades have produced tech-

12      nological advances. Approximately 80 percent of

13      U.S. households subscribe to cable or satellite sys-

14      tems offering multiple channels of video program-

15      ming. The rapid growth of the Internet added an-

16      other source of information to traditional media out-

17      lets. Over 71 percent of Americans have some form

18      of online access.

19           (8) These advances have dramatically increased

20      the number of information pipelines into Americans'

21      homes. Despite the increase in information outlets,

22      ownership and control of those is shrinking. A hand-

23      ful of companies control a large portion of both pro-

24      gramming and distribution. Five companies now own

25      the broadcast networks, 90 percent of the top 50

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 1      cable networks, produce three-quarters of all prime

 2      time programming, and control 70 percent of the

 3      prime time television market share. The same com-

 4      panies that own the nation's most popular news-

 5      papers and networks also own over 85 percent of the

 6      top 20 Internet news sites.

 7           (9) While the Internet has become a new source

 8      of information, the vast majority of Americans con-

 9      tinue to rely on television, newspaper, and radio as

10      their primary sources of news information. Owner-

11      ship of traditional news sources has been consoli-

12      dated over the past 25 years. Two-thirds of Amer-

13      ica's independent newspapers have been lost since

14      1975 and according to the Department of Justice's

15      Merger Guidelines every local newspaper market in

16      the U.S. is highly concentrated.

17           (10) One-third of America's independent TV

18      stations have vanished since 1975 and there has

19      been a 34 percent decline in the number of radio

20      station owners since the Telecommunications Act of

21      1996. There has been a severe decline in the number

22      of minority owned broadcast stations. At the end of

23      the 1990's, minorities owned just 1.9 percent of the

24      U.S. television stations and 4 percent of the nation's

25      AM and FM radio stations.

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1            (11) As the major networks have been allowed

2       greater vertical integration, the percentage of inde-

3       pendently produced pilots and new series on the four

4       national broadcast networks has declined from 87.5

5       percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent in 2002.

6            (12) The weakening of media protections, and

7       subsequent consolidation of the media industry, has

8       allowed companies to ignore their obligations to

9       serve the public interest and severely reduce local-

10      ism, diversity, and competition in today's media.

11           (13) The current state of today's media threat-

12      ens the ability of our democracy to function because

13      it does not allow for ``the widest possible dissemina-

14      tion of information from diverse and antagonistic

15      sources'' and shrinks the marketplace of ideas.

16      (b) PURPOSES.--The purposes of this Act are--

17           (1) to inform the public of the scope of media

18      rules and regulations that have been weakened and

19      lost over the past two decades;

20           (2) to restore fairness in broadcasting;

21           (3) to reduce media concentration;

22           (4) to ensure that broadcasters meet their pub-

23      lic interest requirements; and

24           (5) to promote diversity, localism, and competi-

25      tion in American media

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 1   SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BROADCASTING.

 2       Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

 3 U.S.C. 315) is amended--

 4            (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d)

 5       as subsections (b) through (e), respectively; and

 6            (2) by inserting before subsection (b) the fol-

 7       lowing new subsection:

 8       ``(a) PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATION TO COVER PUB-

 9   LICLY IMPORTANT ISSUES.--A      broadcast licensee shall af-

10 ford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of con-

11 flicting views on issues of public importance. The enforce-

12 ment and application of the requirement imposed by this

13 subsection shall be consistent with the rules and policies

14 of the Commission in effect on January 1, 1987.''.

15   SEC. 4. BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.

16       (a) ESTABLISHMENT           BROADCASTING MULTIPLE

                                OF

17 OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--Part I of title III of the Com-

18 munications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting after

19 section 339 (47 U.S.C. 339) the following new section:

20   ``SEC. 340. BROADCASTING MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP LIMITA-

21                  TIONS.

22       ``(a) NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCE REACH LIM-

23   ITATION.--The    Commission shall not permit any license

24 for a commercial television broadcast station to be grant-

25 ed, transferred, or assigned to any party (including all

26 parties under common control) if the grant, transfer, or

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                               7

 1 assignment of such license would result in such party or

 2 any of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or

 3 directors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or con-

 4 trolling, or having a cognizable interest in television sta-

 5 tions which have an aggregate national audience reach ex-

 6 ceeding 25 percent.

 7       ``(b) RADIO OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--

 8            ``(1) NATIONAL                                LIMITA-

                                   RADIO    OWNERSHIP

 9       TIONS.--The     Commission        shall   modify   section

10       73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) to

11       establish provisions limiting the number of AM or

12       FM broadcast stations which may be owned or con-

13       trolled by one entity nationally. Such limitation shall

14       not exceed 5 percent of the total number of AM and

15       FM broadcast stations.

16            ``(2) LOCAL   RADIO OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--

17       The Commission shall revise section 73.3555(a) of

18       its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) to provide

19       that--

20                  ``(A) in a radio market with 45 or more

21            commercial radio stations, a party may own,

22            operate, or control up to 5 commercial radio

23            stations, not more than 3 of which are in the

24            same service (AM or FM);

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                                8

 1                  ``(B) in a radio market with between 30

 2            and 44 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a

 3            party may own, operate, or control up to 4 com-

 4            mercial radio stations, not more than 2 of

 5            which are in the same service (AM or FM);

 6                  ``(C) in a radio market with between 15

 7            and 29 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a

 8            party may own, operate, or control up to 3 com-

 9            mercial radio stations, not more than 2 of

10            which are in the same service (AM or FM), ex-

11            cept that a party may not own, operate, or con-

12            trol more than 25 percent of the stations in

13            such market; and

14                  ``(D) in a radio market with 14 or fewer

15            commercial radio stations, a party may own,

16            operate, or control up to 3 commercial radio

17            stations, not more than 2 of which are in the

18            same service (AM or FM), except that a party

19            may not own, operate, or control more than 40

20            percent of the stations in such market.

21       ``(c) CABLE/BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP RESTRIC-

22   TIONS.--The    Commission shall not permit any license for

23 a commercial television broadcast station to be granted,

24 transferred, or assigned to any party (including all parties

25 under common control) if the grant, transfer, or assign-

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                               9

 1 ment of such license would result in such party or any

 2 of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or di-

 3 rectors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or control-

 4 ling, or having a cognizable interest in such station and

 5 directly or indirectly owning or controlling a cable tele-

 6 vision system whose service area overlaps in whole or in

 7 part with such television broadcast station's predicted

 8 Grade B contour, computed in accordance with section

 9 73.684 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R.

10 73.684).

11       ``(d) SATELLITE/BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP RE-

12   STRICTION.--The   Commission shall not permit any license

13 for a commercial television broadcast station to be grant-

14 ed, transferred, or assigned to any party (including all

15 parties under common control) if the grant, transfer, or

16 assignment of such license would result in such party or

17 any of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or

18 directors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or con-

19 trolling, or having a cognizable interest in such station and

20 directly or indirectly owning or controlling a satellite car-

21 rier that provides service to customers who are located

22 within such television broadcast station's predicted Grade

23 B contour, computed in accordance with section 73.684

24 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.684).

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                                 10

 1       ``(e) NO GRANDFATHERING.--The Commission shall

 2 require any party (including all parties under common

 3 control) that holds licenses for commercial broadcast sta-

 4 tions in excess of the limitations contained in subsection

 5 (a), (b), (c), or (d) to divest itself of such licenses as may

 6 be necessary to come into compliance with such limitation

 7 within one year after the date of enactment of this section.

 8       ``(f) SECTION           SUBJECT        FORBEARANCE.--

                           NOT             TO

 9 Section 10 of this Act shall not apply to the requirements

10 of this section.

11       ``(g) DEFINITIONS.--

12           ``(1) NATIONAL      AUDIENCE REACH.--The      term

13       `national audience reach' means--

14                    ``(A) the total number of television house-

15            holds in the Nielsen Designated Market Area

16            (DMA) markets in which the relevant stations

17            are located, or as determined under a successor

18            measure adopted by the Commission to delin-

19            eate television markets for purposes of this sec-

20            tion; divided by

21                   ``(B) the total national television house-

22            holds as measured by such DMA data (or such

23            successor measure) at the time of a grant,

24            transfer, or assignment of a license.

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                            11

 1      No market shall be counted more than once in mak-

 2      ing this calculation. The Commission shall not pro-

 3      vide any discount in the measurement of national

 4      audience reach for UHF stations, or on the basis of

 5      any other class or category of television station.

 6           ``(2) COGNIZABLE     INTEREST.--Except    as may

 7      otherwise be provided by regulation by the Commis-

 8      sion, the term `cognizable interest' means any part-

 9      nership or direct ownership interest and any voting

10      stock interest amounting to 5 percent or more of the

11      outstanding voting stock of a licensee.''.

12      (b) DURATION OF LICENCES.--

13           (1) AMENDMENT.--Section 307(c)(1) of the

14      Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1))

15      is amended by striking ``8 years'' each place it ap-

16      pears and inserting ``3 years''.

17           (2) EFFECTIVE    DATE.--The    amendment made

18      by paragraph (1) shall be effective with respect to

19      any license granted by the Federal Communications

20      Commission after the date of enactment of this Act.

21      (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.--

22           (1) Section 629 of the Departments of Com-

23      merce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Re-

24      lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004, is re-

25      pealed. Subject to the amendments made by this

     HR 3302 IH

                                12

 1       subsection, section 202 of the Telecommunications

 2       Act of 1996 shall be applied as if such section 629

 3       had not been enacted. This paragraph shall be effec-

 4       tive as if enacted on the day after the date of enact-

 5       ment of Departments of Commerce, Justice, and

 6       State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appro-

 7       priations Act, 2004.

 8            (2) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 202 of

 9       the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law

10       104104; 110 Stat. 110) are repealed

11            (3) Section 202(c)(1) of such Act is amended--

12                   (A) by striking ``its regulations'' and all

13            that follows through ``by eliminating'' and in-

14            serting ``its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) by

15            eliminating'';

16                  (B) by striking ``; and'' at the end of sub-

17            paragraph (A) and inserting a period; and

18                   (C) by striking subparagraph (B).

19   SEC. 5. INVALIDATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP DEREGULA-

20                  TION.

21       (a) DEFINITION.--For purposes of this section, the

22 term ``media ownership proceeding'' means the Federal

23 Communications Commission proceeding on broadcast

24 media ownership rules (MB Docket No. 02277, MM

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                              13

 1 Docket No. 01235, MM Docket No. 01317, and MM

 2 Docket No. 00244).

 3       (b) NEW RULES INVALIDATED.--Except as provided

 4 in subsection (d), the final rules adopted by the Federal

 5 Communications Commission pursuant to its media own-

 6 ership proceeding, and announced by the Commission on

 7 June 2, 2003, shall be invalid and without legal effect.

 8       (c) REINSTATEMENT          PREVIOUS RULES.--Except

                               OF

 9 as provided in subsection (d), any rule of the Federal

10 Communications Commission that was in effect on June

11 1, 2003, and that was amended, repealed, or otherwise

12 modified by the Commission pursuant to the media owner-

13 ship proceeding is hereby reinstated as it was in effect on

14 June 1, 2003. Any such rule shall be applied and enforced

15 both prospectively after the date of enactment of this Act

16 and retroactively to June 2, 2003, as if the media owner-

17 ship proceeding had not occurred.

18       (d) EXCEPTION.--This section shall not apply to the

19 limitations required by section 340 of the Communications

20 Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this Act.

21       (e) USE         BIENNIAL REVIEW PROHIBITED.--The

                    OF

22 Federal Communications Commission shall not apply sec-

23 tion 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 or sec-

24 tion 11(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

      HR 3302 IH

                              14

 1 161(b)) to any review of broadcast media ownership rules

 2 after the date of enactment of this Act.

 3   SEC. 6. REVIEW PROCESS FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP.

 4       (a) THREE-YEAR REVIEW PROCESS.--The Commis-

 5 sion shall, once each 3 years beginning in 2006, conduct

 6 a review of--

 7            (1) how the Commission's regulations con-

 8       cerning media ownership promote and protect local-

 9       ism, competition, diversity of voices in the media, di-

10       versity in broadcast ownership, children's program-

11       ming, small and local broadcasters, technological ad-

12       vancement; and

13            (2) what regulations should be strengthened,

14       added, eliminated, or altered, consistent with the

15       priorities described in paragraph (1).

16       (b) REPORT        CONGRESS.--The Commission shall,

                      TO

17 promptly after the conclusion of each review under sub-

18 section (a), submit a report thereon to Congress.

19       (c) PUBLICATION         FINAL RULES PRIOR          COM-

                            OF                        TO

20   MENT;   HEARINGS.--Before issuing any final rule con-

21 cerning limitations on media ownership, the Commission

22 shall--

23            (1) publish such rule in the Federal Register;

24            (2) conduct not less than 5 public hearings in

25       various regions of the country to afford the public

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                                15

1        a reasonable opportunity to comment on such rule;

2        and

3              (3) widely advertise the time and place of such

4        hearings in advance.

5    SEC. 7. PUBLIC INTEREST REPORTS.

6        Section 309(k) of the Communications Act of 1934

7 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following new paragraph:

 9             ``(5) PUBLIC   INTEREST SERVICE REPORTS RE-

10       QUIRED.--

11                   ``(A) REPORT     AND HEARINGS.--For     the

12             purposes of enabling the Commission to render

13             the   determinations    required   by   paragraph

14             (1)(A), each broadcast licensee shall--

15                       ``(i) at least once every 2 years, sub-

16                   mit to the Commission and publish, or oth-

17                   erwise make broadly available to the public

18                   at no cost, a report on how the broadcast

19                   station is meeting the requirement to serve

20                   the public interest in accordance with sub-

21                   paragraph (B); and

22                       ``(ii) conduct public hearings in ac-

23                   cordance with subparagraph (C).

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                              16

 1                 ``(B) REPORT    CONTENTS.--   The informa-

 2           tion in the report required by subparagraph

 3           (A)(i) shall include--

 4                     ``(i) the broadcaster's attempts to as-

 5                 certain and satisfy local community needs;

 6                     ``(ii) the broadcaster's use of public

 7                 service announcements;

 8                    ``(iii) the level and variety of the

 9                 broadcaster's children's programming and

10                 the extent of the broadcaster's restraint

11                 from improper commercial advertising dur-

12                 ing children's programming; and

13                     ``(iv) the level and variety of the

14                 broadcaster's nonentertainment program-

15                 ming, particularly public affairs program-

16                 ming;

17                     ``(v) the broadcaster's proposals for

18                 future programming; and

19                     ``(vi) the broadcaster's coverage of

20                 issues important to its local communities,

21                 and how that coverage reflects the diverse

22                 interests and viewpoints of that local com-

23                 munity.

24                 ``(C) PUBLIC    INTEREST HEARINGS.--Each

25           broadcast licensee shall hold at least two public

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                                17

 1             hearings each year in its community of license

 2             during the term of each license to ascertain the

 3             needs and interests of the communities they are

 4             licensed to serve. One hearing shall take place

 5             two months prior to the date of application for

 6             license issuance or renewal. The licensee shall,

 7             on a timely basis, place transcripts of these

 8             hearings in the station's public file, make such

 9             transcripts available via the Internet or other

10             electronic means, and submit such transcripts

11             to the Commission as a part any license re-

12             newal application. All interested parties shall be

13             afforded the opportunity to participate in such

14             hearings.''.

15   SEC. 8. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL INTE-

16                  GRATION.

17         Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934

18 is amended by inserting after section 340 (as added by

19 section 3) the following new section:

20   ``SEC. 341. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL IN-

21                  TEGRATION.

22         ``(a) LIMITATIONS          VERTICAL INTEGRATION

                               ON                            IN

23         ACQUISITION         PROGRAMMING.--The Commission

     THE                 OF

24 shall, in accordance with subsection (b), prescribe rules

25 to prevent the persons controlling the distribution of video

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                             18

1 programming over network distribution systems from ac-

2 quiring unreasonable proportions of such programming

3 from subsidiaries or affiliates contrary to the public inter-

4 est in the goals of diversity and competition in the media

5 marketplace.

 6      ``(b) MINIMUM STANDARDS.--The rules required by

 7 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum--

 8           ``(1) for any of the four largest national tele-

 9      vision networks, prohibit such network from distrib-

10      uting network produced programming over such net-

11      work in an amount that exceeds, for any month,

12      more than 60 percent of their primetime program-

13      ming;

14           ``(2) for any other national television network,

15      other than a network described in paragraph (3),

16      prohibit such network from distributing network

17      produced programming over such network in an

18      amount that exceeds, for any month, more than 70

19      percent of their primetime programming;

20           ``(3) for a national television network that has

21      been in operation for less than 3 years, prohibit such

22      network from distributing network produced pro-

23      gramming over such network in an amount that ex-

24      ceeds, for any month, more than 90 percent of their

25      primetime programming;

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                             19

 1           ``(4) for a cable network that is owned or con-

 2      trolled by a large cable operator or by a national tel-

 3      evision network, prohibit such network from distrib-

 4      uting network produced programming over such net-

 5      works in an amount that exceeds, for any month,

 6      more than 65 percent of their primetime program-

 7      ming; and

 8           ``(5) for any other cable networks, prohibit such

 9      network from distributing network produced pro-

10      gramming over such network in an amount that ex-

11      ceeds, for any month, more than 75 percent of their

12      primetime programming.

13      ``(c) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:

14           ``(1) NETWORK     PRODUCED PROGRAMMING.--

15      The term `network produced programming' means

16      programming that is owned or produced by an entity

17      controlled by or affiliated with the same entity own-

18      ing or controlling the network, or one over which the

19      network has sole or joint creative control, acts as the

20      distributor, or has a financial interest, but does not

21      include programming that is owned or produced, or

22      under the sole creative control, by an affiliated tele-

23      vision broadcast station that is not owned or con-

24      trolled by such network.

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                               20

 1            ``(2) PRIMETIME       PROGRAMMING.--The     term

 2       `primetime     programming'    means    programming

 3       broadcast during the hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.,

 4       Monday through Sunday, but does not include news-

 5       casts, sports programs, or telecasts of feature films.

 6            ``(3) CABLE   NETWORK.--The     term `cable net-

 7       work' means a cable channel that broadcasts video

 8       programming which is primarily intended for the di-

 9       rect receipt by a cable operator or a satellite oper-

10       ator for their retransmission to cable or satellite

11       subscribers, but does not include a cable channel

12       that reaches less than 16 million cable households.

13            ``(4) LARGE              OPERATOR.--The     term

                             CABLE

14       `large cable operator' means a cable operator, as

15       such term is defined in section 602, that has

16       3,000,000 or more subscribers in the aggregate na-

17       tionwide.''.

18   SEC. 9. IMPLEMENTATION.

19       Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this

20 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall com-

21 plete all actions necessary to prescribe regulations, or

22 changes in regulations, to carry out the amendments made

23 by this Act.

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Similarly, laws have been relaxed that limited the ability of media companies to buy other media companies that operate in the same markets.  This was designed to prevent one company from dominating media outlets in a particular market or area. The telecommunications act of 1996 allowed media consolation to the point where only a handful of companies now own virtually all the major media outlets in the US.  This trend has limited the number of points of view available in many markets and contributed to the reporting of news becoming more oriented to sensations with less resources dedicated to investigative journalism.  Americans can no longer depend on the media to keep them thoroughly informed about what is going on in society and government, or to hear points of view held by those without the funding to purchase expensive media time.

Democracy depends on equal access to the media in order to ensure that every voice can be heard.  The Founders of the US understood this and made freedom of the press the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Solution:  Currently there is a bill before Congress that reinstates and improves upon many of the rules and restrictions that helped to prevent excessive consolidation and unbalanced access to media in the past.  H.R. 3302 the Media Ownership Reform Act 0f 2005 is currently before the House and is designed 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.  The passing of H.R. 3302 would provide the following measures:

-Restore the Fairness Doctrine

-Reinstate a national cap on the number of radio stations one company can own.

-Lower the number of radio stations one company can own in a local market.

-Restore the cap on television station ownership that barred one company from controlling communications to more than 25 percent of American households.

-Require regular public interest reports from broadcasters, require broadcasters to meet basic obligations to the communities they serve, and establish procedures for increasing and maintaining public input regarding broadcast issues.

-Provide access for independently produced programming on television.

Following is the complete text of this proposed new bill.  If you feel in favor of this bill contact your Congressional Representative and let them know how important this issue is to you.

109th U.S. Congress (2005-2006)

H.R. 3302: Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005

Introduced:  July 14, 2005

Sponsor:  Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]

Status:  Introduced

109TH CONGRESS

                        H. R. 3302

   1ST SESSION

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. KAP-

    TUR, 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 exces-

    sive 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.

 1         Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 3   SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

 4         (a) SHORT TITLE.--This Act may be cited as the

 5 ``Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005''.

 6         (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.--

                                            2

     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.

1    SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

 2           (a) FINDINGS.--The Congress finds the following:

 3                    (1) The Communications Act of 1934 requires

4            the Federal Communications Commission and broad-

5            cast licensees to promote the public interest. The

6            Commission has long had rules in place to promote

7            the goals of localism, diversity, and competition.

 8                    (2) The Supreme Court, on numerous occa-

9            sions, has upheld the Commission's and Congress's

10           right to establish media protections because a mo-

11           nopolization of ideas is antithetical to our democ-

12           racy.

13                    (3) In 1945, the Supreme Court declared, ``the

14           widest possible dissemination of information from di-

15           verse and antagonistic sources is essential to the

16           welfare of the public, that a free press is a condition

17           of a free society''.

18                    (4) In 1969, the Supreme Court declared, ``it is

19           the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an

20           uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will

21           ultimately prevail, rather than to countenance mo-

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                              3

 1      nopolization of that market, whether it be by the

 2      Government itself or a private licensee''.

 3           (5) Over the past two decades there has been

 4      a gradual shift of control in the public's airwaves

 5      into the hands of fewer private entities.

 6           (6) Private entities can exert control over the

 7      public's access to information as many of the rules

 8      designed to foster diversity, competition, localism,

 9      and production of independent news and entertain-

10      ment have been weakened or repealed.

11           (7) The past two decades have produced tech-

12      nological advances. Approximately 80 percent of

13      U.S. households subscribe to cable or satellite sys-

14      tems offering multiple channels of video program-

15      ming. The rapid growth of the Internet added an-

16      other source of information to traditional media out-

17      lets. Over 71 percent of Americans have some form

18      of online access.

19           (8) These advances have dramatically increased

20      the number of information pipelines into Americans'

21      homes. Despite the increase in information outlets,

22      ownership and control of those is shrinking. A hand-

23      ful of companies control a large portion of both pro-

24      gramming and distribution. Five companies now own

25      the broadcast networks, 90 percent of the top 50

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 1      cable networks, produce three-quarters of all prime

 2      time programming, and control 70 percent of the

 3      prime time television market share. The same com-

 4      panies that own the nation's most popular news-

 5      papers and networks also own over 85 percent of the

 6      top 20 Internet news sites.

 7           (9) While the Internet has become a new source

 8      of information, the vast majority of Americans con-

 9      tinue to rely on television, newspaper, and radio as

10      their primary sources of news information. Owner-

11      ship of traditional news sources has been consoli-

12      dated over the past 25 years. Two-thirds of Amer-

13      ica's independent newspapers have been lost since

14      1975 and according to the Department of Justice's

15      Merger Guidelines every local newspaper market in

16      the U.S. is highly concentrated.

17           (10) One-third of America's independent TV

18      stations have vanished since 1975 and there has

19      been a 34 percent decline in the number of radio

20      station owners since the Telecommunications Act of

21      1996. There has been a severe decline in the number

22      of minority owned broadcast stations. At the end of

23      the 1990's, minorities owned just 1.9 percent of the

24      U.S. television stations and 4 percent of the nation's

25      AM and FM radio stations.

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                              5

1            (11) As the major networks have been allowed

2       greater vertical integration, the percentage of inde-

3       pendently produced pilots and new series on the four

4       national broadcast networks has declined from 87.5

5       percent in 1990 to 22.5 percent in 2002.

6            (12) The weakening of media protections, and

7       subsequent consolidation of the media industry, has

8       allowed companies to ignore their obligations to

9       serve the public interest and severely reduce local-

10      ism, diversity, and competition in today's media.

11           (13) The current state of today's media threat-

12      ens the ability of our democracy to function because

13      it does not allow for ``the widest possible dissemina-

14      tion of information from diverse and antagonistic

15      sources'' and shrinks the marketplace of ideas.

16      (b) PURPOSES.--The purposes of this Act are--

17           (1) to inform the public of the scope of media

18      rules and regulations that have been weakened and

19      lost over the past two decades;

20           (2) to restore fairness in broadcasting;

21           (3) to reduce media concentration;

22           (4) to ensure that broadcasters meet their pub-

23      lic interest requirements; and

24           (5) to promote diversity, localism, and competi-

25      tion in American media

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                               6

 1   SEC. 3. FAIRNESS IN BROADCASTING.

 2       Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

 3 U.S.C. 315) is amended--

 4            (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d)

 5       as subsections (b) through (e), respectively; and

 6            (2) by inserting before subsection (b) the fol-

 7       lowing new subsection:

 8       ``(a) PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATION TO COVER PUB-

 9   LICLY IMPORTANT ISSUES.--A      broadcast licensee shall af-

10 ford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of con-

11 flicting views on issues of public importance. The enforce-

12 ment and application of the requirement imposed by this

13 subsection shall be consistent with the rules and policies

14 of the Commission in effect on January 1, 1987.''.

15   SEC. 4. BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.

16       (a) ESTABLISHMENT           BROADCASTING MULTIPLE

                                OF

17 OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--Part I of title III of the Com-

18 munications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting after

19 section 339 (47 U.S.C. 339) the following new section:

20   ``SEC. 340. BROADCASTING MULTIPLE OWNERSHIP LIMITA-

21                  TIONS.

22       ``(a) NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCE REACH LIM-

23   ITATION.--The    Commission shall not permit any license

24 for a commercial television broadcast station to be grant-

25 ed, transferred, or assigned to any party (including all

26 parties under common control) if the grant, transfer, or

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                               7

 1 assignment of such license would result in such party or

 2 any of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or

 3 directors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or con-

 4 trolling, or having a cognizable interest in television sta-

 5 tions which have an aggregate national audience reach ex-

 6 ceeding 25 percent.

 7       ``(b) RADIO OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--

 8            ``(1) NATIONAL                                LIMITA-

                                   RADIO    OWNERSHIP

 9       TIONS.--The     Commission        shall   modify   section

10       73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) to

11       establish provisions limiting the number of AM or

12       FM broadcast stations which may be owned or con-

13       trolled by one entity nationally. Such limitation shall

14       not exceed 5 percent of the total number of AM and

15       FM broadcast stations.

16            ``(2) LOCAL   RADIO OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.--

17       The Commission shall revise section 73.3555(a) of

18       its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) to provide

19       that--

20                  ``(A) in a radio market with 45 or more

21            commercial radio stations, a party may own,

22            operate, or control up to 5 commercial radio

23            stations, not more than 3 of which are in the

24            same service (AM or FM);

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                                8

 1                  ``(B) in a radio market with between 30

 2            and 44 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a

 3            party may own, operate, or control up to 4 com-

 4            mercial radio stations, not more than 2 of

 5            which are in the same service (AM or FM);

 6                  ``(C) in a radio market with between 15

 7            and 29 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a

 8            party may own, operate, or control up to 3 com-

 9            mercial radio stations, not more than 2 of

10            which are in the same service (AM or FM), ex-

11            cept that a party may not own, operate, or con-

12            trol more than 25 percent of the stations in

13            such market; and

14                  ``(D) in a radio market with 14 or fewer

15            commercial radio stations, a party may own,

16            operate, or control up to 3 commercial radio

17            stations, not more than 2 of which are in the

18            same service (AM or FM), except that a party

19            may not own, operate, or control more than 40

20            percent of the stations in such market.

21       ``(c) CABLE/BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP RESTRIC-

22   TIONS.--The    Commission shall not permit any license for

23 a commercial television broadcast station to be granted,

24 transferred, or assigned to any party (including all parties

25 under common control) if the grant, transfer, or assign-

      HR 3302 IH

                               9

 1 ment of such license would result in such party or any

 2 of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or di-

 3 rectors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or control-

 4 ling, or having a cognizable interest in such station and

 5 directly or indirectly owning or controlling a cable tele-

 6 vision system whose service area overlaps in whole or in

 7 part with such television broadcast station's predicted

 8 Grade B contour, computed in accordance with section

 9 73.684 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R.

10 73.684).

11       ``(d) SATELLITE/BROADCASTING OWNERSHIP RE-

12   STRICTION.--The   Commission shall not permit any license

13 for a commercial television broadcast station to be grant-

14 ed, transferred, or assigned to any party (including all

15 parties under common control) if the grant, transfer, or

16 assignment of such license would result in such party or

17 any of its stockholders, partners, or members, officers, or

18 directors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or con-

19 trolling, or having a cognizable interest in such station and

20 directly or indirectly owning or controlling a satellite car-

21 rier that provides service to customers who are located

22 within such television broadcast station's predicted Grade

23 B contour, computed in accordance with section 73.684

24 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.684).

      HR 3302 IH

                                 10

 1       ``(e) NO GRANDFATHERING.--The Commission shall

 2 require any party (including all parties under common

 3 control) that holds licenses for commercial broadcast sta-

 4 tions in excess of the limitations contained in subsection

 5 (a), (b), (c), or (d) to divest itself of such licenses as may

 6 be necessary to come into compliance with such limitation

 7 within one year after the date of enactment of this section.

 8       ``(f) SECTION           SUBJECT        FORBEARANCE.--

                           NOT             TO

 9 Section 10 of this Act shall not apply to the requirements

10 of this section.

11       ``(g) DEFINITIONS.--

12           ``(1) NATIONAL      AUDIENCE REACH.--The      term

13       `national audience reach' means--

14                    ``(A) the total number of television house-

15            holds in the Nielsen Designated Market Area

16            (DMA) markets in which the relevant stations

17            are located, or as determined under a successor

18            measure adopted by the Commission to delin-

19            eate television markets for purposes of this sec-

20            tion; divided by

21                   ``(B) the total national television house-

22            holds as measured by such DMA data (or such

23            successor measure) at the time of a grant,

24            transfer, or assignment of a license.

      HR 3302 IH

                            11

 1      No market shall be counted more than once in mak-

 2      ing this calculation. The Commission shall not pro-

 3      vide any discount in the measurement of national

 4      audience reach for UHF stations, or on the basis of

 5      any other class or category of television station.

 6           ``(2) COGNIZABLE     INTEREST.--Except    as may

 7      otherwise be provided by regulation by the Commis-

 8      sion, the term `cognizable interest' means any part-

 9      nership or direct ownership interest and any voting

10      stock interest amounting to 5 percent or more of the

11      outstanding voting stock of a licensee.''.

12      (b) DURATION OF LICENCES.--

13           (1) AMENDMENT.--Section 307(c)(1) of the

14      Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1))

15      is amended by striking ``8 years'' each place it ap-

16      pears and inserting ``3 years''.

17           (2) EFFECTIVE    DATE.--The    amendment made

18      by paragraph (1) shall be effective with respect to

19      any license granted by the Federal Communications

20      Commission after the date of enactment of this Act.

21      (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.--

22           (1) Section 629 of the Departments of Com-

23      merce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Re-

24      lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004, is re-

25      pealed. Subject to the amendments made by this

     HR 3302 IH

                                12

 1       subsection, section 202 of the Telecommunications

 2       Act of 1996 shall be applied as if such section 629

 3       had not been enacted. This paragraph shall be effec-

 4       tive as if enacted on the day after the date of enact-

 5       ment of Departments of Commerce, Justice, and

 6       State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appro-

 7       priations Act, 2004.

 8            (2) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 202 of

 9       the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law

10       104104; 110 Stat. 110) are repealed

11            (3) Section 202(c)(1) of such Act is amended--

12                   (A) by striking ``its regulations'' and all

13            that follows through ``by eliminating'' and in-

14            serting ``its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555) by

15            eliminating'';

16                  (B) by striking ``; and'' at the end of sub-

17            paragraph (A) and inserting a period; and

18                   (C) by striking subparagraph (B).

19   SEC. 5. INVALIDATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP DEREGULA-

20                  TION.

21       (a) DEFINITION.--For purposes of this section, the

22 term ``media ownership proceeding'' means the Federal

23 Communications Commission proceeding on broadcast

24 media ownership rules (MB Docket No. 02277, MM

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                              13

 1 Docket No. 01235, MM Docket No. 01317, and MM

 2 Docket No. 00244).

 3       (b) NEW RULES INVALIDATED.--Except as provided

 4 in subsection (d), the final rules adopted by the Federal

 5 Communications Commission pursuant to its media own-

 6 ership proceeding, and announced by the Commission on

 7 June 2, 2003, shall be invalid and without legal effect.

 8       (c) REINSTATEMENT          PREVIOUS RULES.--Except

                               OF

 9 as provided in subsection (d), any rule of the Federal

10 Communications Commission that was in effect on June

11 1, 2003, and that was amended, repealed, or otherwise

12 modified by the Commission pursuant to the media owner-

13 ship proceeding is hereby reinstated as it was in effect on

14 June 1, 2003. Any such rule shall be applied and enforced

15 both prospectively after the date of enactment of this Act

16 and retroactively to June 2, 2003, as if the media owner-

17 ship proceeding had not occurred.

18       (d) EXCEPTION.--This section shall not apply to the

19 limitations required by section 340 of the Communications

20 Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this Act.

21       (e) USE         BIENNIAL REVIEW PROHIBITED.--The

                    OF

22 Federal Communications Commission shall not apply sec-

23 tion 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 or sec-

24 tion 11(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

      HR 3302 IH

                              14

 1 161(b)) to any review of broadcast media ownership rules

 2 after the date of enactment of this Act.

 3   SEC. 6. REVIEW PROCESS FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP.

 4       (a) THREE-YEAR REVIEW PROCESS.--The Commis-

 5 sion shall, once each 3 years beginning in 2006, conduct

 6 a review of--

 7            (1) how the Commission's regulations con-

 8       cerning media ownership promote and protect local-

 9       ism, competition, diversity of voices in the media, di-

10       versity in broadcast ownership, children's program-

11       ming, small and local broadcasters, technological ad-

12       vancement; and

13            (2) what regulations should be strengthened,

14       added, eliminated, or altered, consistent with the

15       priorities described in paragraph (1).

16       (b) REPORT        CONGRESS.--The Commission shall,

                      TO

17 promptly after the conclusion of each review under sub-

18 section (a), submit a report thereon to Congress.

19       (c) PUBLICATION         FINAL RULES PRIOR          COM-

                            OF                        TO

20   MENT;   HEARINGS.--Before issuing any final rule con-

21 cerning limitations on media ownership, the Commission

22 shall--

23            (1) publish such rule in the Federal Register;

24            (2) conduct not less than 5 public hearings in

25       various regions of the country to afford the public

      HR 3302 IH

                                15

1        a reasonable opportunity to comment on such rule;

2        and

3              (3) widely advertise the time and place of such

4        hearings in advance.

5    SEC. 7. PUBLIC INTEREST REPORTS.

6        Section 309(k) of the Communications Act of 1934

7 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following new paragraph:

 9             ``(5) PUBLIC   INTEREST SERVICE REPORTS RE-

10       QUIRED.--

11                   ``(A) REPORT     AND HEARINGS.--For     the

12             purposes of enabling the Commission to render

13             the   determinations    required   by   paragraph

14             (1)(A), each broadcast licensee shall--

15                       ``(i) at least once every 2 years, sub-

16                   mit to the Commission and publish, or oth-

17                   erwise make broadly available to the public

18                   at no cost, a report on how the broadcast

19                   station is meeting the requirement to serve

20                   the public interest in accordance with sub-

21                   paragraph (B); and

22                       ``(ii) conduct public hearings in ac-

23                   cordance with subparagraph (C).

      HR 3302 IH

                              16

 1                 ``(B) REPORT    CONTENTS.--   The informa-

 2           tion in the report required by subparagraph

 3           (A)(i) shall include--

 4                     ``(i) the broadcaster's attempts to as-

 5                 certain and satisfy local community needs;

 6                     ``(ii) the broadcaster's use of public

 7                 service announcements;

 8                    ``(iii) the level and variety of the

 9                 broadcaster's children's programming and

10                 the extent of the broadcaster's restraint

11                 from improper commercial advertising dur-

12                 ing children's programming; and

13                     ``(iv) the level and variety of the

14                 broadcaster's nonentertainment program-

15                 ming, particularly public affairs program-

16                 ming;

17                     ``(v) the broadcaster's proposals for

18                 future programming; and

19                     ``(vi) the broadcaster's coverage of

20                 issues important to its local communities,

21                 and how that coverage reflects the diverse

22                 interests and viewpoints of that local com-

23                 munity.

24                 ``(C) PUBLIC    INTEREST HEARINGS.--Each

25           broadcast licensee shall hold at least two public

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                                17

 1             hearings each year in its community of license

 2             during the term of each license to ascertain the

 3             needs and interests of the communities they are

 4             licensed to serve. One hearing shall take place

 5             two months prior to the date of application for

 6             license issuance or renewal. The licensee shall,

 7             on a timely basis, place transcripts of these

 8             hearings in the station's public file, make such

 9             transcripts available via the Internet or other

10             electronic means, and submit such transcripts

11             to the Commission as a part any license re-

12             newal application. All interested parties shall be

13             afforded the opportunity to participate in such

14             hearings.''.

15   SEC. 8. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL INTE-

16                  GRATION.

17         Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934

18 is amended by inserting after section 340 (as added by

19 section 3) the following new section:

20   ``SEC. 341. PREVENTION OF PROGRAMMING VERTICAL IN-

21                  TEGRATION.

22         ``(a) LIMITATIONS          VERTICAL INTEGRATION

                               ON                            IN

23         ACQUISITION         PROGRAMMING.--The Commission

     THE                 OF

24 shall, in accordance with subsection (b), prescribe rules

25 to prevent the persons controlling the distribution of video

      HR 3302 IH

                             18

1 programming over network distribution systems from ac-

2 quiring unreasonable proportions of such programming

3 from subsidiaries or affiliates contrary to the public inter-

4 est in the goals of diversity and competition in the media

5 marketplace.

 6      ``(b) MINIMUM STANDARDS.--The rules required by

 7 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum--

 8           ``(1) for any of the four largest national tele-

 9      vision networks, prohibit such network from distrib-

10      uting network produced programming over such net-

11      work in an amount that exceeds, for any month,

12      more than 60 percent of their primetime program-

13      ming;

14           ``(2) for any other national television network,

15      other than a network described in paragraph (3),

16      prohibit such network from distributing network

17      produced programming over such network in an

18      amount that exceeds, for any month, more than 70

19      percent of their primetime programming;

20           ``(3) for a national television network that has

21      been in operation for less than 3 years, prohibit such

22      network from distributing network produced pro-

23      gramming over such network in an amount that ex-

24      ceeds, for any month, more than 90 percent of their

25      primetime programming;

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 1           ``(4) for a cable network that is owned or con-

 2      trolled by a large cable operator or by a national tel-

 3      evision network, prohibit such network from distrib-

 4      uting network produced programming over such net-

 5      works in an amount that exceeds, for any month,

 6      more than 65 percent of their primetime program-

 7      ming; and

 8           ``(5) for any other cable networks, prohibit such

 9      network from distributing network produced pro-

10      gramming over such network in an amount that ex-

11      ceeds, for any month, more than 75 percent of their

12      primetime programming.

13      ``(c) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:

14           ``(1) NETWORK     PRODUCED PROGRAMMING.--

15      The term `network produced programming' means

16      programming that is owned or produced by an entity

17      controlled by or affiliated with the same entity own-

18      ing or controlling the network, or one over which the

19      network has sole or joint creative control, acts as the

20      distributor, or has a financial interest, but does not

21      include programming that is owned or produced, or

22      under the sole creative control, by an affiliated tele-

23      vision broadcast station that is not owned or con-

24      trolled by such network.

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 1            ``(2) PRIMETIME       PROGRAMMING.--The     term

 2       `primetime     programming'    means    programming

 3       broadcast during the hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.,

 4       Monday through Sunday, but does not include news-

 5       casts, sports programs, or telecasts of feature films.

 6            ``(3) CABLE   NETWORK.--The     term `cable net-

 7       work' means a cable channel that broadcasts video

 8       programming which is primarily intended for the di-

 9       rect receipt by a cable operator or a satellite oper-

10       ator for their retransmission to cable or satellite

11       subscribers, but does not include a cable channel

12       that reaches less than 16 million cable households.

13            ``(4) LARGE              OPERATOR.--The     term

                             CABLE

14       `large cable operator' means a cable operator, as

15       such term is defined in section 602, that has

16       3,000,000 or more subscribers in the aggregate na-

17       tionwide.''.

18   SEC. 9. IMPLEMENTATION.

19       Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this

20 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall com-

21 plete all actions necessary to prescribe regulations, or

22 changes in regulations, to carry out the amendments made

23 by this Act.

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