HR 4882

110th CONGRESS
1st Session

H. R. 4882

To ensure broadcast station licenses are utilized to serve the public interest.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 19, 2007

Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To ensure broadcast station licenses are utilized to serve the public interest.

    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 Licensing in the Public Interest Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:

      (1) The broadcast airwaves are an extremely vital and valuable public resource. If television and radio broadcast spectrum were to be auctioned for commercial use it could generate several hundred billion dollars for the public treasury.

      (2) The Communications Act of 1934 requires the Federal Communications Commission and broadcast licensees to promote the public interest. As public trustees, over-the-air television and radio broadcast licensees have been granted the unique privilege of using a scarce public asset--the airwaves--for free in exchange for their promise to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity.

      (3) In 1969, the Supreme Court declared in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission that `it is the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail, rather than to countenance monopolization of the market,' and thus, it is `the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount'.

      (4) Drastic media consolidation over the past decade has greatly diminished the broadcast licensees' performance of public interest obligations and broadcast media's ability to foster diversity, competition, and localism.

      (5) An October 2003 analysis of seven media markets shows that just 0.4 percent of television programming is devoted to local public affairs. By contrast, 14.4 percent is paid programming such as infomercials, 9.9 percent is reality or game shows and 7.9 percent is sporting events. In addition, most of the local public affairs programming airs on weekend mornings, at times with lower television viewership.

      (6) Independently produced programming now accounts for less than one-fifth of television prime time programming. On the four major networks, independent programming accounts for about one-seventh.

      (7) A survey of evening television news broadcasts of 44 local affiliates of broadcasters in 11 markets prior to the 2004 election showed that only eight percent of such broadcasts contained a story about local elections. By contrast, 8 times more coverage went to stories about accidental injuries, and 12 times more coverage to sports and weather. In 2006, news about politics and government accounted for about 10 percent of stories on local television news while crime and traffic comprised nearly 50 percent of the coverage.

SEC. 3. BASIS FOR PUBLIC INTEREST DETERMINATIONS.

    Section 309(k) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

      `(5) BASIS FOR FINDING STATION HAS SERVED THE PUBLIC INTEREST, CONVENIENCE, AND NECESSITY-

        `(A) DEMONSTRATION REQUIRED- The Commission shall not find for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) that a station, through its programming, has served the public interest, convenience, and necessity unless the applicant has fulfilled these obligations by demonstrating--

          `(i) a dedication to the civic affairs of its community;

          `(ii) a dedication to local news gathering;

          `(iii) local production of programming;

          `(iv) a commitment to providing the viewing public a presentation of the issues, candidates, and ballot items that are before voters during a local, statewide or national election, including coverage of candidate debates and forums, political conventions, and ongoing news coverage; and

          `(v) presentation of quality educational programming for children.

        `(B) REGULATIONS- The Commission shall prescribe regulations to implement subparagraph (A) that--

          `(i) require each licensee for a station to submit to the Commission an annual report identifying with particularity the methods and actions taken to fulfill the obligations identified in subparagraph (A);

          `(ii) require each such licensee to ascertain its compliance with such obligations with appropriate public input from the community of license for such station; and

          `(iii) contain such exemptions from one or more of such obligations for particular classes or categories of such licensees if the Commission determines that such obligation is inappropriate for such class or category.'.

SEC. 4. TERMS OF LICENSES.

    (a) Amendment- Section 307(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1)) is amended by striking `8 years' each place it appears and inserting `3 years'.

    (b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be effective with respect to any license granted by the Federal Communications Commission after the date of enactment of this Act.

END