47 U.S.C. § 335 : US Code - Section 335: Direct broadcast satellite service obligations

Search 47 U.S.C. § 335 : US Code - Section 335: Direct broadcast satellite service obligations

(a) Proceeding required to review DBS responsibilities
The Commission shall, within 180 days after October 5, 1992,
initiate a rulemaking proceeding to impose, on providers of direct
broadcast satellite service, public interest or other requirements
for providing video programming. Any regulations prescribed
pursuant to such rulemaking shall, at a minimum, apply the access
to broadcast time requirement of section 312(a)(7) of this title
and the use of facilities requirements of section 315 of this title
to providers of direct broadcast satellite service providing video
programming. Such proceeding also shall examine the opportunities
that the establishment of direct broadcast satellite service
provides for the principle of localism under this chapter, and the
methods by which such principle may be served through technological
and other developments in, or regulation of, such service.
(b) Carriage obligations for noncommercial, educational, and
informational programming
(1) Channel capacity required
The Commission shall require, as a condition of any provision,
initial authorization, or authorization renewal for a provider of
direct broadcast satellite service providing video programming,
that the provider of such service reserve a portion of its
channel capacity, equal to not less than 4 percent nor more than
7 percent, exclusively for noncommercial programming of an
educational or informational nature.
(2) Use of unused channel capacity
A provider of such service may utilize for any purpose any
unused channel capacity required to be reserved under this
subsection pending the actual use of such channel capacity for
noncommercial programming of an educational or informational
nature.
(3) Prices, terms, and conditions; editorial control
A provider of direct broadcast satellite service shall meet the
requirements of this subsection by making channel capacity
available to national educational programming suppliers, upon
reasonable prices, terms, and conditions, as determined by the
Commission under paragraph (4). The provider of direct broadcast
satellite service shall not exercise any editorial control over
any video programming provided pursuant to this subsection.
(4) Limitations
In determining reasonable prices under paragraph (3) -
(A) the Commission shall take into account the nonprofit
character of the programming provider and any Federal funds
used to support such programming;
(B) the Commission shall not permit such prices to exceed,
for any channel made available under this subsection, 50
percent of the total direct costs of making such channel
available; and
(C) in the calculation of total direct costs, the Commission
shall exclude -
(i) marketing costs, general administrative costs, and
similar overhead costs of the provider of direct broadcast
satellite service; and
(ii) the revenue that such provider might have obtained by
making such channel available to a commercial provider of
video programming.
(5) Definitions
For purposes of this subsection -
(A) The term "provider of direct broadcast satellite service"
means -
(i) a licensee for a Ku-band satellite system under part
100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations; or
(ii) any distributor who controls a minimum number of
channels (as specified by Commission regulation) using a Ku-
band fixed service satellite system for the provision of
video programming directly to the home and licensed under
part 25 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(B) The term "national educational programming supplier"
includes any qualified noncommercial educational television
station, other public telecommunications entities, and public
or private educational institutions.