Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 2.djvu/595

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PUBLIC LAW 102-386—OCT. 5, 1992 106 STAT. 1475 tions shall include necessary revisions to update section 76.51 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

  • '(g) SALES PRESENTATIONS AND PROGRAM LENGTH COMMER-

CIALS. — "(1) CARRIAGE PENDING PROCEEDING. — Pending the outcome of the proceeding under paragraph (2), nothing in this Act shall require a cable operator to carry on any tier, or prohibit a cable operator from carrying on any tier, the signal of any commercial television station or video programming service that is predominantly utilized for the transmission of sales presentations or program length commercials. "(2) PROCEEDING CONCERNING CERTAIN STATIONS. —Within 270 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Commission, notwithstanding prior proceedings to determine whether broadcast television stations that are predominantly utiHzed for the transmission of sales presentations or program length commercials are serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity, shall complete a proceeding in accordance with this paragraph to determine whether broadcast television stations that are predominantly utihzed for the transmission of sales presentations or program length commercials are serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity. In conducting such proceeding, the Commission shall provide appropriate notice and opportunity for public comment. The Commission shall consider the viewing of such stations, the level of competing demands for the spectrum allocated to such stations, and the role of such stations in providing competition to nonbroadcast services offering similar programming. In the event that the Commission concludes that one or more of such stations are serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity, the Commission shall qualify such stations as local commercial television stations for purposes of subsection (a). In the event that the Commission concludes that one or more of such stations are not serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity, the Commission shall allow the licensees of such stations a reasonable period within which to provide dif- ferent programming, and shall not deny such stations a renewal expectancy solely because their programming consisted predominantly of sales presentations or program length commercials. "(h) DEFINITIONS. — "(1) LOCAL COMMERCIAL TELEVISION STATION. — "(A) IN GENERAL. —For purposes of this section, the term local commercial television station' means any full power television broadcast station, other than a qualified noncommercial educational television station within the meaning of section 615(1)(1), licensed and operating on a channel regularly assigned to its community by the Commission that, with respect to a particular cable system, is within the same television market as the cable system. "(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term local commercial television station' shall not include— "(i) low power television stations, television translator stations, and passive r^eaters which operate pursuant to part 74 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations thereto;