
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 47USC535]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
                  SUBCHAPTER V-A--CABLE COMMUNICATIONS
 
     Part II--Use of Cable Channels and Cable Ownership Restrictions
 
Sec. 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.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, Sec. 615, as added Pub. L. 102-385, 
Sec. 5, Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1477.)


                             Effective Date

    Section effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, see section 28 of Pub. 
L. 102-385, set out as an Effective Date of 1992 Amendment note under 
section 325 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 325, 336, 338, 532, 534, 
543, 555, 573 of this title.
