Local and Independent Television Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1789 To eliminate the discount for UHF television stations for purposes of the limitation on the aggregate national audience reach of television broad- cast stations in which a party may have a cognizable interest. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself and Mr. PRICE of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To eliminate the discount for UHF television stations for purposes of the limitation on the aggregate national audi- ence reach of television broadcast stations in which a party may have a cognizable interest. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local and Independent 4 Television Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF UHF DISCOUNT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1789.IH H1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1789 IH nications Commission shall amend section 73.3555(e) of 1 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, such that, for pur- 2 poses of the aggregate national audience reach limitation 3 under such section, a UHF television station is attributed 4 with 100 percent of the television households in the des- 5 ignated market area of such station. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub- 7 section (c), the Commission shall provide that— 8 (1) the amendment required by subsection (a) 9 shall apply beginning on a date specified by the 10 Commission, which shall be not later than 90 days 11 after the day on which the Commission adopts such 12 amendment; and 13 (2) any party that exceeds the limitation under 14 section 73.3555(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Reg- 15 ulations— 16 (A) through the grant, transfer, or assign- 17 ment of an additional license on or after the 18 date specified by the Commission under para- 19 graph (1) shall come into compliance with such 20 limitation as required by section 73.3555(e)(3) 21 of such title; or 22 (B) solely by reason of applying such 23 amendment (and not through the grant, trans- 24 fer, or assignment of an additional license) shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1789.IH H1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1789 IH come into compliance with such limitation not 1 later than 2 years after the date specified by 2 the Commission under paragraph (1). 3 (c) GRANDFATHERING.—In the case of television 4 broadcast stations in which a party had a cognizable inter- 5 est as of September 26, 2013 (or would have had such 6 an interest following the completion of a transfer or as- 7 signment of a license that was approved by the Commis- 8 sion on or before such date or for which an application 9 was pending with the Commission on such date), if the 10 aggregate national audience reach of such stations would 11 exceed the limitation under section 73.3555(e) of title 47, 12 Code of Federal Regulations, solely by reason of applying 13 the amendment required by subsection (a) as of such date, 14 such amendment shall not apply to such party with respect 15 to such stations. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1789.IH H1789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS