Notes on 47 U.S.C. § 521 : US Code - Notes

Search Notes on 47 U.S.C. § 521 : US Code - Notes

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, Sec. 601, as added Pub. L. 98-
549, Sec. 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2780.)
EFFECTIVE DATE
Section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98-549 provided that: "Except where
otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of this Act [enacting
this subchapter and section 611 of this title, amending sections
152, 224, 309, and 605 of this title, section 2511 of Title 18,
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section 1805 of Title 50, War
and National Defense, and enacting provisions set out as notes
under this section and sections 543, 605, and 609 of this title]
and the amendments made thereby shall take effect 60 days after the
date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 1984]."
SHORT TITLE
For short title of Pub. L. 98-549 [enacting this subchapter] as
the "Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984", see section 1(a) of
Pub. L. 98-549, set out as a Short Title of 1984 Amendment note
under section 609 of this title.
CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND POLICY FOR PUB. L. 102-385
Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 2(a), (b), Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1460,
1463, provided that:
"(a) Findings. - The Congress finds and declares the following:
"(1) Pursuant to the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984
[Pub. L. 98-549, enacting this subchapter and section 611 of this
title, amending sections 152, 224, 309, and 605 of this title,
section 2511 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and
section 1805 of Title 50, War and National Defense, and enacting
provisions set out as notes under this section and sections 543,
605, and 609 of this title], rates for cable television services
have been deregulated in approximately 97 percent of all
franchises since December 29, 1986. Since rate deregulation,
monthly rates for the lowest priced basic cable service have
increased by 40 percent or more for 28 percent of cable
television subscribers. Although the average number of basic
channels has increased from about 24 to 30, average monthly rates
have increased by 29 percent during the same period. The average
monthly cable rate has increased almost 3 times as much as the
Consumer Price Index since rate deregulation.
"(2) For a variety of reasons, including local franchising
requirements and the extraordinary expense of constructing more
than one cable television system to serve a particular geographic
area, most cable television subscribers have no opportunity to
select between competing cable systems. Without the presence of
another multichannel video programming distributor, a cable
system faces no local competition. The result is undue market
power for the cable operator as compared to that of consumers and
video programmers.
"(3) There has been a substantial increase in the penetration
of cable television systems over the past decade. Nearly
56,000,000 households, over 60 percent of the households with
televisions, subscribe to cable television, and this percentage
is almost certain to increase. As a result of this growth, the
cable television industry has become a dominant nationwide video
medium.
"(4) The cable industry has become highly concentrated. The
potential effects of such concentration are barriers to entry for
new programmers and a reduction in the number of media voices
available to consumers.
"(5) The cable industry has become vertically integrated; cable
operators and cable programmers often have common ownership. As a
result, cable operators have the incentive and ability to favor
their affiliated programmers. This could make it more difficult
for noncable-affiliated programmers to secure carriage on cable
systems. Vertically integrated program suppliers also have the
incentive and ability to favor their affiliated cable operators
over nonaffiliated cable operators and programming distributors
using other technologies.
"(6) There is a substantial governmental and First Amendment
interest in promoting a diversity of views provided through
multiple technology media.
"(7) There is a substantial governmental and First Amendment
interest in ensuring that cable subscribers have access to local
noncommercial educational stations which Congress has authorized,
as expressed in section 396(a)(5) of the Communications Act of
1934 [47 U.S.C. 396(a)(5)]. The distribution of unique
noncommercial, educational programming services advances that
interest.
"(8) The Federal Government has a substantial interest in
making all nonduplicative local public television services
available on cable systems because -
"(A) public television provides educational and informational
programming to the Nation's citizens, thereby advancing the
Government's compelling interest in educating its citizens;
"(B) public television is a local community institution,
supported through local tax dollars and voluntary citizen
contributions in excess of $10,800,000,000 since 1972, that
provides public service programming that is responsive to the
needs and interests of the local community;
"(C) the Federal Government, in recognition of public
television's integral role in serving the educational and
informational needs of local communities, has invested more
than $3,000,000,000 in public broadcasting since 1969; and
"(D) absent carriage requirements there is a substantial
likelihood that citizens, who have supported local public
television services, will be deprived of those services.
"(9) The Federal Government has a substantial interest in
having cable systems carry the signals of local commercial
television stations because the carriage of such signals is
necessary to serve the goals contained in section 307(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 307(b)] of providing a
fair, efficient, and equitable distribution of broadcast
services.
"(10) A primary objective and benefit of our Nation's system of
regulation of television broadcasting is the local origination of
programming. There is a substantial governmental interest in
ensuring its continuation.
"(11) Broadcast television stations continue to be an important
source of local news and public affairs programming and other
local broadcast services critical to an informed electorate.
"(12) Broadcast television programming is supported by revenues
generated from advertising broadcast over stations. Such
programming is otherwise free to those who own television sets
and do not require cable transmission to receive broadcast
signals. There is a substantial governmental interest in
promoting the continued availability of such free television
programming, especially for viewers who are unable to afford
other means of receiving programming.
"(13) As a result of the growth of cable television, there has
been a marked shift in market share from broadcast television to
cable television services.
"(14) Cable television systems and broadcast television
stations increasingly compete for television advertising
revenues. As the proportion of households subscribing to cable
television increases, proportionately more advertising revenues
will be reallocated from broadcast to cable television systems.
"(15) A cable television system which carries the signal of a
local television broadcaster is assisting the broadcaster to
increase its viewership, and thereby attract additional
advertising revenues that otherwise might be earned by the cable
system operator. As a result, there is an economic incentive for
cable systems to terminate the retransmission of the broadcast
signal, refuse to carry new signals, or reposition a broadcast
signal to a disadvantageous channel position. There is a
substantial likelihood that absent the reimposition of such a
requirement, additional local broadcast signals will be deleted,
repositioned, or not carried.
"(16) As a result of the economic incentive that cable systems
have to delete, reposition, or not carry local broadcast signals,
coupled with the absence of a requirement that such systems carry
local broadcast signals, the economic viability of free local
broadcast television and its ability to originate quality local
programming will be seriously jeopardized.
"(17) Consumers who subscribe to cable television often do so
to obtain local broadcast signals which they otherwise would not
be able to receive, or to obtain improved signals. Most
subscribers to cable television systems do not or cannot maintain
antennas to receive broadcast television services, do not have
input selector switches to convert from a cable to antenna
reception system, or cannot otherwise receive broadcast
television services. The regulatory system created by the Cable
Communications Policy Act of 1984 was premised upon the continued
existence of mandatory carriage obligations for cable systems,
ensuring that local stations would be protected from
anticompetitive conduct by cable systems.
"(18) Cable television systems often are the single most
efficient distribution system for television programming. A
Government mandate for a substantial societal investment in
alternative distribution systems for cable subscribers, such as
the 'A/B' input selector antenna system, is not an enduring or
feasible method of distribution and is not in the public
interest.
"(19) At the same time, broadcast programming that is carried
remains the most popular programming on cable systems, and a
substantial portion of the benefits for which consumers pay cable
systems is derived from carriage of the signals of network
affiliates, independent television stations, and public
television stations. Also cable programming placed on channels
adjacent to popular off-the-air signals obtains a larger audience
than on other channel positions. Cable systems, therefore, obtain
great benefits from local broadcast signals which, until now,
they have been able to obtain without the consent of the
broadcaster or any copyright liability. This has resulted in an
effective subsidy of the development of cable systems by local
broadcasters. While at one time, when cable systems did not
attempt to compete with local broadcasters for programming,
audience, and advertising, this subsidy may have been
appropriate, it is so no longer and results in a competitive
imbalance between the 2 industries.
"(20) The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, in its
amendments to the Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 151 et
seq.], limited the regulatory authority of franchising
authorities over cable operators. Franchising authorities are
finding it difficult under the current regulatory scheme to deny
renewals to cable systems that are not adequately serving cable
subscribers.
"(21) Cable systems should be encouraged to carry low-power
television stations licensed to the communities served by those
systems where the low-power station creates and broadcasts, as a
substantial part of its programming day, local programming.
"(b) Statement of Policy. - It is the policy of the Congress in
this Act [enacting sections 334, 335, 534 to 537, 544a, 548, and
555a of this title, amending sections 325, 332, 522, 532, 533, 541
to 544, 546, 551 to 555, and 558 of this title, and enacting
provisions set out as notes under this section and sections 325,
531, 543, and 554 of this title] to -
"(1) promote the availability to the public of a diversity of
views and information through cable television and other video
distribution media;
"(2) rely on the marketplace, to the maximum extent feasible,
to achieve that availability;
"(3) ensure that cable operators continue to expand, where
economically justified, their capacity and the programs offered
over their cable systems;
"(4) where cable television systems are not subject to
effective competition, ensure that consumer interests are
protected in receipt of cable service; and
"(5) ensure that cable television operators do not have undue
market power vis-a-vis video programmers and consumers."
SPORTS PROGRAMMING MIGRATION STUDY AND REPORT
Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 26, Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1502, directed
Federal Communications Commission to investigate and analyze, on a
sport-by-sport basis, trends in migration of local, regional, and
national sports programming from carriage by broadcast stations to
carriage over cable programming networks and pay-per-view systems,
including economic causes and consequences of such trends, and
further directed Commission to submit to Congress interim and final
reports of such study, no later than July 1, 1993, and July 1,
1994, respectively, along with recommendations for legislative or
regulatory activity.
APPLICABILITY OF ANTITRUST LAWS TO PUB. L. 102-385
Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 27, Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1503, provided
that: "Nothing in this Act [enacting sections 334, 335, 534 to 537,
544a, 548, and 555a of this title, amending sections 325, 332, 522,
532, 533, 541 to 544, 546, 551 to 555, and 558 of this title, and
enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and
sections 325, 531, 543, and 554 of this title] or the amendments
made by this Act shall be construed to alter or restrict in any
manner the applicability of any Federal or State antitrust law."
EFFECT OF CABLE COMMUNICATIONS POLICY ACT OF 1984 ON JURISDICTION
OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RESPECTING WIRE OR RADIO
COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH CABLE SYSTEMS
Section 3(b) of Pub. L. 98-549 provided that: "The provisions of
this Act [enacting this subchapter and section 611 of this title,
amending sections 152, 224, 309, and 605 of this title, section
2511 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section 1805
of Title 50, War and National Defense, and enacting provisions set
out as notes under this section and sections 543, 605, and 609 of
this title] and amendments made by this Act shall not be construed
to affect any jurisdiction the Federal Communications Commission
may have under the Communications Act of 1934 [this chapter] with
respect to any communication by wire or radio (other than cable
service, as defined in section 602(5) of such Act [section 522(5)
of this title]) which is provided through a cable system, or
persons or facilities engaged in such communications."