Goto Section: 73.653 | 73.664 | Table of Contents
FCC 73.658
Revised as of December 4, 2012
Goto Year:2011 |
2013
§ 73.658 Affiliation agreements and network program practices; territorial
exclusivity in non-network program arrangements.
(a) Exclusive affiliation of station. No license shall be granted to a
television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, express or implied, with a network organization under
which the station is prevented or hindered from, or penalized for,
broadcasting the programs of any other network organization. (The term
“network organization” as used in this section includes national and
regional network organizations. See ch. VII, J, of Report on Chain
Broadcasting.)
(b) Territorial exclusively. No license shall be granted to a
television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, express or implied, with a network organization which
prevents or hinders another broadcast station located in the same
community from broadcasting the network's programs not taken by the
former station, or which prevents or hinders another broadcast station
located in a different community from broadcasting any program of the
network organization. This section shall not be construed to prohibit
any contract, arrangement, or understanding between a station and a
network organization pursuant to which the station is granted the first
call in its community upon the programs of the network organization. As
employed in this paragraph, the term “community” is defined as the
community specified in the instrument of authorization as the location
of the station.
(c) [Reserved]
(d) Station commitment of broadcast time. No license shall be granted
to a television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, express or implied, with any network organization, which
provides for optioning of the station's time to the network
organization, or which has the same restraining effect as time
optioning. As used in this section, time optioning is any contract,
arrangement, or understanding, express or implied, between a station
and a network organization which prevents or hinders the station from
scheduling programs before the network agrees to utilize the time
during which such programs are scheduled, or which requires the station
to clear time already scheduled when the network organization seeks to
utilize the time.
(e) Right to reject programs. No license shall be granted to a
television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, express or implied, with a network organization which,
with respect to programs offered or already contracted for pursuant to
an affiliation contract, prevents or hinders the station from:
(1) Rejecting or refusing network programs which the station reasonably
believes to be unsatisfactory or unsuitable or contrary to the public
interest, or
(2) Substituting a program which, in the station's opinion, is of
greater local or national importance.
(f) [Reserved]
(g) Dual network operation. A television broadcast station may
affiliate with 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, were “networks” as defined in § 73.3613(a)(1) of the Commission's
regulations (that is, ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC).
(h) Control by networks of station rates. No license shall be granted
to a television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, express or implied, with a network organization under
which the station is prevented or hindered from, or penalized for,
fixing or altering its rates for the sale of broadcast time for other
than the network's programs.
(i) No license shall be granted to a television broadcast station which
is represented for the sale of non-network time by a network
organization or by an organization directly or indirectly controlled by
or under common control with a network organization, if the station has
any contract, arrangement or understanding, express or implied, which
provides for the affiliation of the station with such network
organization: Provided, however, That this rule shall not be applicable
to stations licensed to a network organization or to a subsidiary of a
network organization.
(j)-(l) [Reserved]
(m) Territorial exclusivity in non-network arrangements. (1) No
television station shall enter into any contract, arrangement, or
understanding, expressed or implied; with a non-network program
producer, distributor, or supplier, or other person; which prevents or
hinders another television station located in a community over 56.3
kilometers (35 miles) away, as determined by the reference points
contained in § 76.53 of this chapter, (if reference points for a
community are not listed in § 76.53, the location of the main post
office will be used) from broadcasting any program purchased by the
former station from such non-network program producer, distributor,
supplier, or other person, except that a television station may secure
exclusivity against a television station licensed to another designated
community in a hyphenated market specified in the market listing as
contained in § 76.51 of this chapter for those 100 markets listed, and
for markets not listed in § 76.51 of this chapter, the listing as
contained in the Nielsen Media Research DMA Rankings for the most
recent year at the time that the exclusivity contract, arrangement or
understanding is complete under practices of the industry. As used in
this paragraph, the term “community” is defined as the community
specified in the instrument of authorization as the location of the
station.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (m)(1) of this section, a television
station may enter into a contract, arrangement, or understanding with a
producer, supplier, or distributor of a non-network program if that
contract, arrangement, or understanding provides that the broadcast
station has exclusive national rights such that no other television
station in the United States may broadcast the program.
Note 1: Contracts, arrangements, or understandings that are complete
under the practices of the industry prior to August 7, 1973, will not
be disturbed. Extensions or renewals of such agreements are not
permitted because they would in effect be new agreements without
competitive bidding. However, such agreements that were based on the
broadcaster's advancing “seed money” for the production of a specific
program or series that specify two time periods—a tryout period and
period thereafter for general exhibition—may be extended or renewed as
contemplated in the basic agreement.
Note 2: It is intended that the top 100 major television markets listed
in § 76.51 of this chapter shall be used for the purposes of this rule
and that the listing of the top 100 television markets appearing in the
ARB Television Market Analysis shall not be used. The reference in this
rule to the listing of markets in the ARB Television Market Analysis
refers to hyphenated markets below the top-100 markets contained in the
ARB Television Market Analysis. If a community is listed in a
hyphenated market in § 76.51 and is also listed in one of the markets
in the ARB listing, the listing in § 76.51 shall govern.
Note 3: The provisions of this paragraph apply only to U.S. commercial
television broadcast stations in the 50 states, and not to stations in
Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, foreign stations or noncommercial
educational television or “public” television stations (either by way
of restrictions on their exclusivity or on exclusivity against them).
Note 4: New stations authorized in any community of a hyphenated market
listed in § 76.51 of this chapter or in any community of a hyphenated
market listed in the ARB Television Market Analysis (for markets below
the top-100 markets) are subject to the same rules as previously
existing stations therein. New stations authorized in other communities
are considered stations in separate markets unless and until § 76.51 is
amended by Commission action, or the ARB listing is changed.
(Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068 (47 U.S.C. 155))
[ 28 FR 13660 , Dec. 14, 1963]
Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting § 73.658,
see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding
Aids section of the printed volume and at www.fdsys.gov .
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Goto Section: 73.653 | 73.664
Goto Year: 2011 |
2013
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