Goto Section: 76.65 | 76.70 | Table of Contents
FCC 76.66
Revised as of October 1, 2014
Goto Year:2013 |
2015
§ 76.66 Satellite broadcast signal carriage.
(a) Definitions--(1) Satellite carrier. A satellite carrier is an
entity that uses the facilities of a satellite or satellite service
licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, and operates in the
Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service under
part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, to establish
and operate a channel of communications for point-to-multipoint
distribution of television station signals, and that owns or leases a
capacity or a service on a satellite in order to provide such
point-to-multipoint distribution, except to the extent that such entity
provides such distribution pursuant to tariff under the Communications
Act of 1934, other than for private home viewing.
(2) Secondary transmission. A secondary transmission is the further
transmitting of a primary transmission simultaneously with the primary
transmission.
(3) Subscriber. A subscriber is a person who receives a secondary
transmission service from a satellite carrier and pays a fee for the
service, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or to a
distributor.
(4) Television broadcast station. A television broadcast station is an
over-the-air commercial or noncommercial television broadcast station
licensed by the Commission under subpart E of part 73 of title 47, Code
of Federal Regulations, except that such term does not include a
low-power or translator television station.
(5) Television network. For purposes of this section, a television
network is an entity which offers an interconnected program service on
a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 affiliated
broadcast stations in 10 or more States.
(6) Local-into-local television service. A satellite carrier is
providing local-into-local service when it retransmits a local
television station signal back into the local market of that television
station for reception by subscribers.
(b) Signal carriage obligations. (1) Each satellite carrier providing,
under section 122 of title 17, United States Code, secondary
transmissions to subscribers located within the local market of a
television broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that
station, shall carry upon request the signals of all television
broadcast stations located within that local market, subject to section
325(b) of title 47, United States Code, and other paragraphs in this
section. Satellite carriers are required to carry digital-only stations
upon request in markets in which the satellite carrier is providing any
local-into-local service pursuant to the statutory copyright license.
(2) A satellite carrier that offers multichannel video programming
distribution service in the United States to more than 5,000,000
subscribers shall, no later than December 8, 2005, carry upon request
the signal originating as an analog signal of each television broadcast
station that is located in a local market in Alaska or Hawaii; and
shall, no later than June 8, 2007, carry upon request the signals
originating as digital signals of each television broadcast station
that is located in a local market in Alaska or Hawaii. Such satellite
carrier is not required to carry the signal originating as analog after
commencing carriage of digital signals on June 8, 2007. Carriage of
signals originating as digital signals of each television broadcast
station that is located in a local market in Alaska or Hawaii shall
include the entire free over-the-air signal, including multicast and
high definition digital signals.
(c) Election cycle. In television markets where a satellite carrier is
providing local-into-local service, a commercial television broadcast
station may elect either retransmission consent, pursuant to section
325 of title 47 United States Code, or mandatory carriage, pursuant to
section 338, title 47 United States Code.
(1) The first retransmission consent-mandatory carriage election cycle
shall be for a four-year period commencing on January 1, 2002 and
ending December 31, 2005.
(2) The second retransmission consent-mandatory carriage election
cycle, and all cycles thereafter, shall be for a period of three years
(e.g. the second election cycle commences on January 1, 2006 and ends
at midnight on December 31, 2008).
(3) A commercial television station must notify a satellite carrier, by
July 1, 2001, of its retransmission consent-mandatory carriage election
for the first election cycle commencing January 1, 2002.
(4) Except as provided in paragraphs (c)(6), (d)(2) and (d)(3) of this
section, local commercial television broadcast stations shall make
their retransmission consent-mandatory carriage election by October 1st
of the year preceding the new cycle for all election cycles after the
first election cycle.
(5) A noncommercial television station must request carriage by July 1,
2001 for the first election cycle and must renew its carriage request
at the same time a commercial television station must make its
retransmission consent-mandatory carriage election for all subsequent
cycles.
(6) A commercial television broadcast station located in a local market
in Alaska or Hawaii shall make its retransmission consent-mandatory
carriage election by October 1, 2005, for carriage of its signal that
originates as an analog signal for carriage commencing on December 8,
2005, and by April 1, 2007, for its signal that originates as a digital
signal for carriage commencing on June 8, 2007 and ending on December
31, 2008. For analog and digital signal carriage cycles commencing
after December 31, 2008, such stations shall follow the election cycle
in paragraphs (c)(2) and (4). A noncommercial television broadcast
station located in a local market in Alaska or Hawaii must request
carriage by October 1, 2005, for carriage of its signal that originates
as an analog signal for carriage commencing on December 8, 2005, and by
April 1, 2007, for its signal that originates as a digital signal for
carriage commencing on June 8, 2007 and ending on December 31, 2008.
(d) Carriage procedures--(1) Carriage requests. (i) An election for
mandatory carriage made by a television broadcast station shall be
treated as a request for carriage. For purposes of this paragraph
concerning carriage procedures, the term election request includes an
election of retransmission consent or mandatory carriage.
(ii) An election request made by a television station must be in
writing and sent to the satellite carrier's principal place of
business, by certified mail, return receipt requested.
(iii) A television station's written notification shall include the:
(A) Station's call sign;
(B) Name of the appropriate station contact person;
(C) Station's address for purposes of receiving official
correspondence;
(D) Station's community of license;
(E) Station's DMA assignment; and
(F) For commercial television stations, its election of mandatory
carriage or retransmission consent.
(iv) Within 30 days of receiving a television station's carriage
request, a satellite carrier shall notify in writing:
(A) those local television stations it will not carry, along with the
reasons for such a decision; and
(B) those local television stations it intends to carry.
(v) A satellite carrier is not required to carry a television station,
for the duration of the election cycle, if the station fails to assert
its carriage rights by the deadlines established in this section.
(2) New local-into-local service. (i) A new satellite carrier or a
satellite carrier providing local service in a market for the first
time after July 1, 2001, shall inform each television broadcast station
licensee within any local market in which a satellite carrier proposes
to commence carriage of signals of stations from that market, not later
than 60 days prior to the commencement of such carriage
(A) Of the carrier's intention to launch local-into-local service under
this section in a local market, the identity of that local market, and
the location of the carrier's proposed local receive facility for that
local market;
(B) Of the right of such licensee to elect carriage under this section
or grant retransmission consent under section 325(b);
(C) That such licensee has 30 days from the date of the receipt of such
notice to make such election; and
(D) That failure to make such election will result in the loss of the
right to demand carriage under this section for the remainder of the
3-year cycle of carriage under section 325.
(ii) Satellite carriers shall transmit the notices required by
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section via certified mail to the address
for such television station licensee listed in the consolidated
database system maintained by the Commission.
(iii) A satellite carrier with more than five million subscribers shall
provide the notice as required by paragraphs (d)(2)(i) and (ii) of this
section to each television broadcast station located in a local market
in Alaska or Hawaii, not later than March 1, 2007 with respect to
carriage of digital signals; provided, further, that the notice shall
also describe the carriage requirements pursuant to 47 U.S.C.
338(a)(4), and paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(iv) A satellite carrier shall commence carriage of a local station by
the later of 90 days from receipt of an election of mandatory carriage
or upon commencing local-into-local service in the new television
market.
(v) Within 30 days of receiving a local television station's election
of mandatory carriage in a new television market, a satellite carrier
shall notify in writing: Those local television stations it will not
carry, along with the reasons for such decision, and those local
television stations it intends to carry.
(vi) Satellite carriers shall notify all local stations in a market of
their intent to launch HD carry-one, carry-all in that market at least
60 days before commencing such carriage.
(3) New television stations. (i) A television station providing
over-the-air service in a market for the first time on or after July 1,
2001, shall be considered a new television station for satellite
carriage purposes.
(ii) A new television station shall make its election request, in
writing, sent to the satellite carrier's principal place of business by
certified mail, return receipt requested, between 60 days prior to
commencing broadcasting and 30 days after commencing broadcasting. This
written notification shall include the information required by
paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section.
(iii) A satellite carrier shall commence carriage within 90 days of
receiving the request for carriage from the television broadcast
station or whenever the new television station provides over-the-air
service.
(iv) Within 30 days of receiving a new television station's election of
mandatory carriage, a satellite carrier shall notify the station in
writing that it will not carry the station, along with the reasons for
such decision, or that it intends to carry the station.
(4) Television broadcast stations must send election requests as
provided in paragraphs (d)(1), (2), and (3) of this section on or
before the relevant deadline.
(5) Elections in markets in which significantly viewed signals are
carried. (i) Beginning with the election cycle described in
§ 76.66(c)(2), the retransmission of significantly viewed signals
pursuant to § 76.54 by a satellite carrier that provides
local-into-local service is subject to providing the notifications to
stations in the market pursuant to paragraphs (d)(5)(i)(A) and (B) of
this section, unless the satellite carrier was retransmitting such
signals as of the date these notifications were due.
(A) In any local market in which a satellite carrier provided
local-into-local service on December 8, 2004, at least 60 days prior to
any date on which a station must make an election under paragraph (c)
of this section, identify each affiliate of the same television network
that the carrier reserves the right to retransmit into that station's
local market during the next election cycle and the communities into
which the satellite carrier reserves the right to make such
retransmissions;
(B) In any local market in which a satellite carrier commences
local-into-local service after December 8, 2004, at least 60 days prior
to the commencement of service in that market, and thereafter at least
60 days prior to any date on which the station must thereafter make an
election under § 76.66(c) or (d)(2), identify each affiliate of the
same television network that the carrier reserves the right to
retransmit into that station's local market during the next election
cycle.
(ii) A television broadcast station located in a market in which a
satellite carrier provides local-into-local television service may
elect either retransmission consent or mandatory carriage for each
county within the station's local market if the satellite carrier
provided notice to the station, pursuant to paragraph (d)(5)(i) of this
section, that it intends to carry during the next election cycle, or
has been carrying on the date notification was due, in the station's
local market another affiliate of the same network as a significantly
viewed signal pursuant to § 76.54.
(iii) A television broadcast station that elects mandatory carriage for
one or more counties in its market and elects retransmission consent
for one or more other counties in its market pursuant to paragraph
(d)(5)(ii) of this section shall conduct a unified negotiation for the
entire portion of its local market for which retransmission consent is
elected.
(iv) A television broadcast station that receives a notification from a
satellite carrier pursuant to paragraph (d)(5)(i) of this section with
respect to an upcoming election cycle may choose either retransmission
consent or mandatory carriage for any portion of the 3-year election
cycle that is not covered by an existing retransmission consent
agreement.
(e) Market definitions. (1) A local market, in the case of both
commercial and noncommercial television broadcast stations, is the
designated market area in which a station is located, and
(i) In the case of a commercial television broadcast station, all
commercial television broadcast stations licensed to a community within
the same designated market area within the same local market; and
(ii) In the case of a noncommercial educational television broadcast
station, the market includes any station that is licensed to a
community within the same designated market area as the noncommercial
educational television broadcast station.
(2) A designated market area is the market area, as determined by
Nielsen Media Research and published in the 1999-2000 Nielsen Station
Index Directory and Nielsen Station Index United States Television
Household Estimates or any successor publication. In the case of areas
outside of any designated market area, any census area, borough, or
other area in the State of Alaska that is outside of a designated
market area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research, shall be deemed
to be part of one of the local markets in the State of Alaska.
(3) A satellite carrier shall use the 1999-2000 Nielsen Station Index
Directory and Nielsen Station Index United States Television Household
Estimates to define television markets for the first retransmission
consent-mandatory carriage election cycle commencing on January 1, 2002
and ending on December 31, 2005. The 2003-2004 Nielsen Station Index
Directory and Nielsen Station Index United States Television Household
Estimates shall be used for the second retransmission consent-mandatory
carriage election cycle commencing January 1, 2006 and ending December
31, 2008, and so forth for each triennial election pursuant to this
section. Provided, however, that a county deleted from a market by
Nielsen need not be subtracted from a market in which a satellite
carrier provides local-into-local service, if that county is assigned
to that market in the 1999-2000 Nielsen Station Index Directory or any
subsequent issue of that publication. A satellite carrier may determine
which local market in the State of Alaska will be deemed to be the
relevant local market in connection with each subscriber in an area in
the State of Alaska that is outside of a designated market, as
described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section.
(4) A local market includes all counties to which stations assigned to
that market are licensed.
(f) Receive facilities. (1) A local receive facility is the reception
point in each local market which a satellite carrier designates for
delivery of the signal of the station for purposes of retransmission.
(2) A satellite carrier may establish another receive facility to serve
a market if the location of such a facility is acceptable to at least
one-half the stations with carriage rights in that market.
(3) Except as provided in 76.66(d)(2), a satellite carrier providing
local-into-local service must notify local television stations of the
location of the receive facility by June 1, 2001 for the first election
cycle and at least 120 days prior to the commencement of all election
cycles thereafter.
(4) A satellite carrier may relocate its local receive facility at the
commencement of each election cycle. A satellite carrier is also
permitted to relocate its local receive facility during the course of
an election cycle, if it bears the signal delivery costs of the
television stations affected by such a move. A satellite carrier
relocating its local receive facility must provide 60 days notice to
all local television stations carried in the affected television
market.
(g) Good quality signal. (1) A television station asserting its right
to carriage shall be required to bear the costs associated with
delivering a good quality signal to the designated local receive
facility of the satellite carrier or to another facility that is
acceptable to at least one-half the stations asserting the right to
carriage in the local market.
(2) To be considered a good quality signal for satellite carriage
purposes, a television station shall deliver to the local receive
facility of a satellite carrier either a signal level of -45dBm for UHF
signals or -49dBm for VHF signals at the input terminals of the signal
processing equipment.
(3) A satellite carrier is not required to carry a television station
that does not agree to be responsible for the costs of delivering a
good quality signal to the receive facility.
(h) Duplicating signals. (1) A satellite carrier shall not be required
to carry upon request the signal of any local television broadcast
station that substantially duplicates the signal of another local
television broadcast station which is secondarily transmitted by the
satellite carrier within the same local market, or the signals of more
than one local commercial television broadcast station in a single
local market that is affiliated with a particular television network
unless such stations are licensed to communities in different States.
(2) A satellite carrier may select which duplicating signal in a market
it shall carry.
(3) A satellite carrier may select which network affiliate in a market
it shall carry.
(4) A satellite carrier is permitted to drop a local television station
whenever that station meets the substantial duplication criteria set
forth in this paragraph. A satellite carrier must add a television
station to its channel line-up if such station no longer duplicates the
programming of another local television station.
(5) A satellite carrier shall provide notice to its subscribers, and to
the affected television station, whenever it adds or deletes a
station's signal in a particular local market pursuant to this
paragraph.
(6) A commercial television station substantially duplicates the
programming of another commercial television station if it
simultaneously broadcasts the identical programming of another station
for more than 50 percent of the broadcast week.
(7) A noncommercial television station substantially duplicates the
programming of another noncommercial station if it simultaneously
broadcasts the same programming as another noncommercial station for
more than 50 percent of prime time, as defined by § 76.5(n), and more
than 50 percent outside of prime time over a three month period,
Provided, however, that after three noncommercial television stations
are carried, the test of duplication shall be whether more than 50
percent of prime time programming and more than 50 percent outside of
prime time programming is duplicative on a non-simultaneous basis.
(i) Channel positioning. (1) No satellite carrier shall be required to
provide the signal of a local television broadcast station to
subscribers in that station's local market on any particular channel
number or to provide the signals in any particular order, except that
the satellite carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local
television broadcast stations to subscribers in the stations' local
market on contiguous channels.
(2) The television stations subject to this paragraph include those
carried under retransmission consent.
(3) All local television stations carried under mandatory carriage in a
particular television market must be offered to subscribers at rates
comparable to local television stations carried under retransmission
consent in that same market.
(4) Within a market, no satellite carrier shall provide
local-into-local service in a manner that requires subscribers to
obtain additional equipment at their own expense or for an additional
carrier charge in order to obtain one or more local television
broadcast signals if such equipment is not required for the receipt of
other local television broadcast signals.
(5) All television stations carried under mandatory carriage, in a
particular market, shall be presented to subscribers in the same manner
as television stations that elected retransmission consent, in that
same market, on any navigational device, on-screen program guide, or
menu provided by the satellite carrier.
(j) Manner of carriage. (1) Each television station carried by a
satellite carrier, pursuant to this section, shall include in its
entirety the primary video, accompanying audio, and closed captioning
data contained in line 21 of the vertical blanking interval and, to the
extent technically feasible, program-related material carried in the
vertical blanking interval or on subcarriers. For noncommercial
educational television stations, a satellite carrier must also carry
any program-related material that may be necessary for receipt of
programming by persons with disabilities or for educational or language
purposes. Secondary audio programming must also be carried. Where
appropriate and feasible, satellite carriers may delete signal
enhancements, such as ghost-canceling, from the broadcast signal and
employ such enhancements at the local receive facility.
(2) A satellite carrier, at its discretion, may carry any ancillary
service transmission on the vertical blanking interval or the aural
baseband of any television broadcast signal, including, but not limited
to, multichannel television sound and teletext.
(k) Material degradation. (1) Each local television station whose
signal is carried under mandatory carriage shall, to the extent
technically feasible and consistent with good engineering practice, be
provided with the same quality of signal processing provided to
television stations electing retransmission consent, including carriage
of HD signals in HD if any local station in the same market is carried
in HD. A satellite carrier is permitted to use reasonable digital
compression techniques in the carriage of local television stations.
(2) Satellite carriers must provide carriage of local stations' HD
signals if any local station in the same market is carried in HD,
pursuant to the following schedule:
(i) In at least 15% of the markets in which they carry any station
pursuant to the statutory copyright license in HD by February 17, 2010;
(ii) In at least 30% of the markets in which they carry any station
pursuant to the statutory copyright license in HD no later than
February 17, 2011;
(iii) In at least 60% of the markets in which they carry any station
pursuant to the statutory copyright license in HD no later than
February 17, 2012; and
(iv) In 100% of the markets in which they carry any station pursuant to
the statutory copyright license in HD by February 17, 2013.
(l) Compensation for carriage. (1) A satellite carrier shall not accept
or request monetary payment or other valuable consideration in exchange
either for carriage of local television broadcast stations in
fulfillment of the mandatory carriage requirements of this section or
for channel positioning rights provided to such stations under this
section, except that any such station may be required to bear the costs
associated with delivering a good quality signal to the receive
facility of the satellite carrier.
(2) A satellite carrier may accept payments from a station pursuant to
a retransmission consent agreement.
(m) Remedies. (1) Whenever a local television broadcast station
believes that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obligations
under this section, such station shall notify the carrier, in writing,
of the alleged failure and identify its reasons for believing that the
satellite carrier failed to comply with such obligations.
(2) The satellite carrier shall, within 30 days after such written
notification, respond in writing to such notification and comply with
such obligations or state its reasons for believing that it is in
compliance with such obligations.
(3) A local television broadcast station that disputes a response by a
satellite carrier that it is in compliance with such obligations may
obtain review of such denial or response by filing a complaint with the
Commission, in accordance with § 76.7 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations. Such complaint shall allege the manner in which such
satellite carrier has failed to meet its obligations and the basis for
such allegations.
(4) The satellite carrier against which a complaint is filed is
permitted to present data and arguments to establish that there has
been no failure to meet its obligations under this section.
(5) The Commission shall determine whether the satellite carrier has
met its obligations under this section. If the Commission determines
that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obligations, the
Commission shall order the satellite carrier to take appropriate
remedial action. If the Commission determines that the satellite
carrier has fully met the requirements of this section, it shall
dismiss the complaint.
(6) The Commission will not accept any complaint filed later than 60
days after a satellite carrier, either implicitly or explicitly, denies
a television station's carriage request.
(n) Channel sharing carriage rights. A broadcast television station
that voluntarily relinquishes spectrum usage rights under § 73.3700 of
this chapter in order to share a television channel and that possessed
carriage rights under section 338, 614, or 615 of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338; 534; 535) on November 30, 2010, shall have,
at its shared location, the carriage rights under such section that
would apply to such station at such location if it were not sharing a
channel.
[ 66 FR 7430 , Jan. 23, 2001, as amended at 66 FR 49135 , Sept. 26, 2001;
70 FR 21670 , Apr. 27, 2005; 70 FR 51668 , Aug. 31, 2005; 70 FR 53079 ,
Sept. 7, 2005; 73 FR 24508 , May 5, 2008; 77 FR 30426 , May 23, 2012]
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Goto Section: 76.65 | 76.70
Goto Year: 2013 |
2015
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