[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 942 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 942
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reduce restrictions on media
ownership, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 2, 1999
Mr. Stearns (for himself, Mr. Frost, Mr. Oxley, Mr. McCollum, Mr.
Foley, Mrs. Meek of Florida, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reduce restrictions on media
ownership, 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 ``Broadcast Ownership for the 21st
Century Act''.
SEC. 2. REVISION OF DUOPOLY RULES.
Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 338. REVISION OF DUOPOLY RULES.
``(a) Limitation on Duopoly Rules.--The Commission shall not
prohibit a person or entity directly from owning, operating, or
controlling or having a cognizable interest in--
``(1) two stations with overlapping coverage contours if
each station is located in a separate television market, or
``(2) two television stations within the same television
market, if at least one of such stations is a UHF television
station.
``(b) Protection of Existing Local Marketing Agreements.--All local
marketing or time brokerage agreements between two broadcast television
stations, located in the same television market, that were signed prior
to the date of enactment of the Broadcast Ownership for the 21st
Century Act, shall be exempt from the television duopoly rule. The
Commission shall take no action that impairs the renewability or
transferability (or both) of these arrangements by either the parties
or their successors or assigns.
``(c) VHF Stations.--The Commission, in unusual and compelling
circumstances, may permit a person or entity to directly or indirectly
own, operate, or control or have a cognizable interest in, two VHF
television stations within the same television market, if the applicant
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Commission that permitting such
ownership, operation, or control will not significantly harm
competition and will not significantly harm the preservation of a
diversity of media voices in the local television market.''.
SEC. 3. CROSS-OWNERSHIP LIMITATIONS.
(a) Rule Changes Required.--The Federal Communications Commission
shall modify section 73.3555 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.3555)--
(1) by eliminating any provisions limiting the granting or
renewal of an AM, FM, or TV broadcast station license to any
party (including parties under common control) on the basis of
the ownership, operation, or control by such party of a daily
newspaper; and
(2) by eliminating the one-to-a-market rule in section
73.3555(c) of such regulations.
(b) Preservation of Cognizable Interest Rule.--In modifying such
section 73.3555 of its regulations, the Commission shall not treat a
minority voting stock interest as a cognizable interest if there is a
single holder of more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting stock
of the corporate broadcast licensee, cable television system, or daily
newspaper in which the minority interest is held.
(c) Cable Cross-Ownership Limitations.--Section 613(c) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 533(c)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commission may not
prohibit or limit a person or entity from holding any form of ownership
or other interest in a broadcasting station and a cable system serving
the same community.''.
(d) Dual-Network Rules.--The Federal Communications Commission
shall revise section 73.658(g) of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.658(g))
to permit a television broadcast station to affiliate with--
``(1) a person or entity that maintains two or more
networks of television broadcast stations unless such dual or
multiple networks are composed of two or more persons or
entities that, on February 8, 1996, offered an interconnected
program service on a regular basis for 15 hours or more per
week to at least 25 affiliated television licensees in 10 or
more States; or
``(2) any person or entity controlling, controlled by, or
under common control with such a person or entity described in
paragraph (1).
(e) Deadline for Actions.--The Federal Communications Commission
shall complete all actions necessary to complete the modifications
required by this section within 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AUTHORITY.
(a) Amendment.--Section 202(c)(1)(B) of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 is amended by striking ``35 percent'' and inserting ``45
percent''.
(b) Deadline for Implementation.--The Federal Communications
Commission shall amend its regulations to implement the amendment made
by subsection (a) within 90 days after the date of enactment of this
Act. In amending such regulations, the Commission shall not revise
section 73.3555(e)(2)(i) of its regulations (47 C.F.R.
73.3555(e)(2)(i)).
SEC. 5. RECIPROCAL TREATMENT OF FOREIGN OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS.
Subsection (b) of section 310 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 310(b)) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Foreign Ownership Limitations.--
``(1) In general.--No broadcast or common carrier or
aeronautical en route or aeronautical fixed radio station
license shall be granted to or held by--
``(A) any alien or the representative of any alien;
``(B) any corporation organized under the laws of
any foreign country;
``(C) any corporation of which more than one-fifth
of any class of the capital stock is owned of record or
voted by aliens or their representatives or by a
foreign government or representative thereof or by any
corporation organized under the laws of a foreign
country;
``(D) any corporation directly or indirectly
controlled by any other corporation of which more than
one-fourth of any class of the capital stock is owned
of record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or
by a foreign government or representative thereof, or
by any corporation organized under the laws of a
foreign country, if the Commission finds that the
public interest will be served by the refusal or
revocation of such license.
``(2) Reciprocal treatment for broadcast stations.--In the
case of a broadcast station license, if the foreign country or
foreign government referred to in subparagraph (C) or (D) of
paragraph of (1) regularly permits broadcast station licenses
to be granted to or held by--
``(A) any corporation of which more than one-fifth
of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by one
or more United States persons;
``(B) any corporation directly or indirectly
controlled by any other corporation of which more than
one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of record or
voted by one or more United States persons;
then the Commission shall apply such subparagraphs (C) and (D)
by permitting an alien, corporation, government, or
representative from such foreign country to own a portion of
the class of the capital stock of the corporation seeking or
holding the broadcast station license equal to the portion of
the corresponding class of the capital stock of a corporation
holding a broadcast station license in such foreign country
that are permitted by such foreign country or foreign
government to be held by an individual citizen, corporation,
government, or representative from the United States, except
that the Commission shall not be required by this paragraph to
permit a portion of such capital stock ownership representing
voting stock higher than 40 percent.
``(3) Definition of united states persons.--For purposes of
paragraph (2), the term `United States person' means--
``(A) any corporation organized under the laws of a
State;
``(B) an individual who is a citizen of the United
States;
``(C) a government of the United States or any
State; or
``(D) a representative of any of the individuals or
entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of
this paragraph.''.
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