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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 535. Carriage of noncommercial educational television
(a) Carriage obligations
In addition to the carriage requirements set forth in section 534
of this title, each cable operator of a cable system shall carry
the signals of qualified noncommercial educational television
stations in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(b) Requirements to carry qualified stations
(1) General requirement to carry each qualified station
Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and subsection (e) of this
section, each cable operator shall carry, on the cable system of
that cable operator, any qualified local noncommercial
educational television station requesting carriage.
(2) Systems with 12 or fewer channels
(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a cable operator of a cable
system with 12 or fewer usable activated channels shall be
required to carry the signal of one qualified local noncommercial
educational television station; except that a cable operator of
such a system shall comply with subsection (c) of this section
and may, in its discretion, carry the signals of other qualified
noncommercial educational television stations.
(B) In the case of a cable system described in subparagraph (A)
which operates beyond the presence of any qualified local
noncommercial educational television station -
(i) the cable operator shall import and carry on that system
the signal of one qualified noncommercial educational
television station;
(ii) the selection for carriage of such a signal shall be at
the election of the cable operator; and
(iii) in order to satisfy the requirements for carriage
specified in this subsection, the cable operator of the system
shall not be required to remove any other programming service
actually provided to subscribers on March 29, 1990; except that
such cable operator shall use the first channel available to
satisfy the requirements of this subparagraph.
(3) Systems with 13 to 36 channels
(A) Subject to subsection (c) of this section, a cable operator
of a cable system with 13 to 36 usable activated channels -
(i) shall carry the signal of at least one qualified local
noncommercial educational television station but shall not be
required to carry the signals of more than three such stations,
and
(ii) may, in its discretion, carry additional such stations.
(B) In the case of a cable system described in this paragraph
which operates beyond the presence of any qualified local
noncommercial educational television station, the cable operator
shall import and carry on that system the signal of at least one
qualified noncommercial educational television station to comply
with subparagraph (A)(i).
(C) The cable operator of a cable system described in this
paragraph which carries the signal of a qualified local
noncommercial educational station affiliated with a State public
television network shall not be required to carry the signal of
any additional qualified local noncommercial educational
television stations affiliated with the same network if the
programming of such additional stations is substantially
duplicated by the programming of the qualified local
noncommercial educational television station receiving carriage.
(D) A cable operator of a system described in this paragraph
which increases the usable activated channel capacity of the
system to more than 36 channels on or after March 29, 1990,
shall, in accordance with the other provisions of this section,
carry the signal of each qualified local noncommercial
educational television station requesting carriage, subject to
subsection (e) of this section.
(c) Continued carriage of existing stations
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, all cable
operators shall continue to provide carriage to all qualified local
noncommercial educational television stations whose signals were
carried on their systems as of March 29, 1990. The requirements of
this subsection may be waived with respect to a particular cable
operator and a particular such station, upon the written consent of
the cable operator and the station.
(d) Placement of additional signals
A cable operator required to add the signals of qualified local
noncommercial educational television stations to a cable system
under this section may do so, subject to approval by the
franchising authority pursuant to section 531 of this title, by
placing such additional stations on public, educational, or
governmental channels not in use for their designated purposes.
(e) Systems with more than 36 channels
A cable operator of a cable system with a capacity of more than
36 usable activated channels which is required to carry the signals
of three qualified local noncommercial educational television
stations shall not be required to carry the signals of additional
such stations the programming of which substantially duplicates the
programming broadcast by another qualified local noncommercial
educational television station requesting carriage. Substantial
duplication shall be defined by the Commission in a manner that
promotes access to distinctive noncommercial educational television
services.
(f) Waiver of nonduplication rights
A qualified local noncommercial educational television station
whose signal is carried by a cable operator shall not assert any
network nonduplication rights it may have pursuant to section 76.92
of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, to require the deletion
of programs aired on other qualified local noncommercial
educational television stations whose signals are carried by that
cable operator.
(g) Conditions of carriage
(1) Content to be carried
A cable operator shall retransmit in its entirety the primary
video, accompanying audio, and line 21 closed caption
transmission of each qualified local noncommercial educational
television station whose signal is carried on the cable system,
and, to the extent technically feasible, program-related material
carried in the vertical blanking interval, or on subcarriers,
that may be necessary for receipt of programming by handicapped
persons or for educational or language purposes. Retransmission
of other material in the vertical blanking interval or on
subcarriers shall be within the discretion of the cable operator.
(2) Bandwidth and technical quality
A cable operator shall provide each qualified local
noncommercial educational television station whose signal is
carried in accordance with this section with bandwidth and
technical capacity equivalent to that provided to commercial
television broadcast stations carried on the cable system and
shall carry the signal of each qualified local noncommercial
educational television station without material degradation.
(3) Changes in carriage
The signal of a qualified local noncommercial educational
television station shall not be repositioned by a cable operator
unless the cable operator, at least 30 days in advance of such
repositioning, has provided written notice to the station and all
subscribers of the cable system. For purposes of this paragraph,
repositioning includes (A) assignment of a qualified local
noncommercial educational television station to a cable system
channel number different from the cable system channel number to
which the station was assigned as of March 29, 1990, and (B)
deletion of the station from the cable system. The notification
provisions of this paragraph shall not be used to undermine or
evade the channel positioning or carriage requirements imposed
upon cable operators under this section.
(4) Good quality signal required
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, a cable
operator shall not be required to carry the signal of any
qualified local noncommercial educational television station
which does not deliver to the cable system's principal headend a
signal of good quality or a baseband video signal, as may be
defined by the Commission.
(5) Channel positioning
Each signal carried in fulfillment of the carriage obligations
of a cable operator under this section shall be carried on the
cable system channel number on which the qualified local
noncommercial educational television station is broadcast over
the air, or on the channel on which it was carried on July 19,
1985, at the election of the station, or on such other channel
number as is mutually agreed upon by the station and the cable
operator. Any dispute regarding the positioning of a qualified
local noncommercial educational television station shall be
resolved by the Commission.
(h) Availability of signals
Signals carried in fulfillment of the carriage obligations of a
cable operator under this section shall be available to every
subscriber as part of the cable system's lowest priced service tier
that includes the retransmission of local commercial television
broadcast signals.
(i) Payment for carriage prohibited
(1) In general
A cable operator shall not accept monetary payment or other
valuable consideration in exchange for carriage of the signal of
any qualified local noncommercial educational television station
carried in fulfillment of the requirements of this section,
except that such a station may be required to bear the cost
associated with delivering a good quality signal or a baseband
video signal to the principal headend of the cable system.
(2) Distant signal exception
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a cable
operator shall not be required to add the signal of a qualified
local noncommercial educational television station not already
carried under the provision of subsection (c) of this section,
where such signal would be considered a distant signal for
copyright purposes unless such station indemnifies the cable
operator for any increased copyright costs resulting from
carriage of such signal.
(j) Remedies
(1) Complaint
Whenever a qualified local noncommercial educational television
station believes that a cable operator of a cable system has
failed to comply with the signal carriage requirements of this
section, the station may file a complaint with the Commission.
Such complaint shall allege the manner in which such cable
operator has failed to comply with such requirements and state
the basis for such allegations.
(2) Opportunity to respond
The Commission shall afford such cable operator an opportunity
to present data, views, and arguments to establish that the cable
operator has complied with the signal carriage requirements of
this section.
(3) Remedial actions; dismissal
Within 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under this
subsection, the Commission shall determine whether the cable
operator has complied with the requirements of this section. If
the Commission determines that the cable operator has failed to
comply with such requirements, the Commission shall state with
particularity the basis for such findings and order the cable
operator to take such remedial action as is necessary to meet
such requirements. If the Commission determines that the cable
operator has fully complied with such requirements, the
Commission shall dismiss the complaint.
(k) Identification of signals
A cable operator shall identify, upon request by any person,
those signals carried in fulfillment of the requirements of this
section.
(l) Definitions
For purposes of this section -
(1) Qualified noncommercial educational television station
The term "qualified noncommercial educational television
station" means any television broadcast station which -
(A)(i) under the rules and regulations of the Commission in
effect on March 29, 1990, is licensed by the Commission as a
noncommercial educational television broadcast station and
which is owned and operated by a public agency, nonprofit
foundation, corporation, or association; and
(ii) has as its licensee an entity which is eligible to
receive a community service grant, or any successor grant
thereto, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or any
successor organization thereto, on the basis of the formula set
forth in section 396(k)(6)(B) of this title; or
(B) is owned and operated by a municipality and transmits
predominantly noncommercial programs for educational purposes.
Such term includes (I) the translator of any noncommercial
educational television station with five watts or higher power
serving the franchise area, (II) a full-service station or
translator if such station or translator is licensed to a channel
reserved for noncommercial educational use pursuant to section
73.606 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor
regulations thereto, and (III) such stations and translators
operating on channels not so reserved as the Commission
determines are qualified as noncommercial educational stations.
(2) Qualified local noncommercial educational television station
The term "qualified local noncommercial educational television
station" means a qualified noncommercial educational television
station -
(A) which is licensed to a principal community whose
reference point, as defined in section 76.53 of title 47, Code
of Federal Regulations (as in effect on March 29, 1990), or any
successor regulations thereto, is within 50 miles of the
principal headend of the cable system; or
(B) whose Grade B service contour, as defined in section
73.683(a) of such title (as in effect on March 29, 1990), or
any successor regulations thereto, encompasses the principal
headend of the cable system.
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