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local signal to other subscribers who reside in the same zip code as that subscriber or person.

(3) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.-Any satellite carrier that knowingly and willfully provides the signals of television stations to subscribers in violation of this subsection shall be liable for a forfeiture penalty under section 503 in the amount of $50,000 for each violation or each day of a continuing violation., 1 except that paragraph (2)(D) of this subsection, relating to the provision of distant digital signals, shall be enforceable under the provisions of section 340(f)

(b) EXTENSION OF NETWORK NONDUPLICATION, SYNDICATED EXCLUSIVITY, AND SPORTS BLACKOUT TO SATELLITE RETRANSMISSION.

(1) EXTENSION OF PROTECTIONS.-Within 45 days after the date of the enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, the Commission shall commence a single rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations that—

(A) apply network nonduplication protection (47 CFR 76.92) syndicated exclusivity protection (47 CFR 76.151), and sports blackout protection (47 CFR 76.67) to the retransmission of the signals of nationally distributed superstations by satellite carriers to subscribers; and

(B) to the extent technically feasible and not economically prohibitive, apply sports blackout protection (47 CFR 76.67) to the retransmission of the signals of network stations by satellite carriers to subscribers.

(2) DEADLINE FOR ACTION.-The Commission shall complete all actions necessary to prescribe regulations required by this section so that the regulations shall become effective within 1 year after such date of enactment.

(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR RETRANSMISSION.—

(1) STUDY OF DIGITAL STRENGTH TESTING PROCEDURES.

(A) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, the Federal Communications Commission shall complete an inquiry regarding whether, for purposes of identifying if a household is unserved by an adequate digital signal under section 119(d)(10) of title 17, United States Code, the digital signal strength standard in section 73.622(e)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or the testing procedures in section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, such statutes or regulations should be revised to take into account the types of antennas that are available to con

sumers.

(B) STUDY CONSIDERATIONS.-In conducting the study under this paragraph, the Commission shall consider whether

(i) to account for the fact that an antenna can be mounted on a roof or placed in a home and can be fixed or capable of rotating;

1 So in law. The period following the words "continuing violation" should appear at the end of the paragraph. See amendment made by section 204(a)(4) of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-447; 118 Stat. 3416).

(ii) section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, should be amended to create different procedures for determining if the requisite digital signal strength is present than for determining if the requisite analog signal strength is present;

(iii) a standard should be used other than the presence of a signal of a certain strength to ensure that a household can receive a high-quality picture using antennas of reasonable cost and ease of installation;

(iv) to develop a predictive methodology for determining whether a household is unserved by an adequate digital signal under section 119(d)(10) of title 17, United States Code;

(v) there is a wide variation in the ability of reasonably priced consumer digital television sets to receive over-the-air signals, such that at a given signal strength some may be able to display high-quality pictures while others cannot, whether such variation is related to the price of the television set, and whether such variation should be factored into setting a standard for determining whether a household is unserved by an adequate digital signal; and

(vi) to account for factors such as building loss, external interference sources, or undesired signals from both digital television and analog television stations using either the same or adjacent channels in nearby markets, foliage, and man-made clutter.

(C) REPORT.-Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, the Federal Communications Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report containing

and

(i) the results of the study under this paragraph;

(ii) recommendations, if any, as to what changes should be made to Federal statutes or regulations. (2) WAIVERS.-A subscriber who is denied the retransmission of a signal of a network station under section 119 of title 17, United States Code, may request a waiver from such denial by submitting a request, through such subscriber's satellite carrier, to the network station asserting that the retransmission is prohibited. The network station shall accept or reject a subscriber's request for a waiver within 30 days after receipt of the request. The subscriber shall be permitted to receive such retransmission under section 119(d)(10)(B) of title 17, United States Code, if such station agrees to the waiver request and files with the satellite carrier a written waiver with respect to that subscriber allowing the subscriber to receive such retransmission. If a television network station fails to accept or reject a subscriber's request for a waiver within the 30day period after receipt of the request, that station shall be

deemed to agree to the waiver request and have filed such written waiver.

(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVED PREDICTIVE MODEL REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, the Commission shall take all actions necessary, including any reconsideration, to develop and prescribe by rule a point-to-point predictive model for reliably and presumptively determining the ability of individual locations to receive signals in accordance with the signal intensity standard in effect under section 119(d)(10)(A) of title 17, United States Code. In prescribing such model, the Commission shall rely on the Individual Location Longley-Rice model set forth by the Federal Communications Commission in Docket No. 98-201 and ensure that such model takes into account terrain, building structures, and other land cover variations. The Commission shall establish procedures for the continued refinement in the application of the model by the use of additional data as it becomes available. (4) OBJECTIVE VERIFICATION.

(A) IN GENERAL.-If a subscriber's request for a waiver under paragraph (2) is rejected and the subscriber submits to the subscriber's satellite carrier a request for a test verifying the subscriber's inability to receive a signal that meets the signal intensity standard in effect under section 119(d)(10)(A) of title 17, United States Code, the satellite carrier and the network station or stations asserting that the retransmission is prohibited with respect to that subscriber shall select a qualified and independent person to conduct a test in accordance with section 73.686(d) of its regulations (47 CFR 73.686(d)), or any successor regulation. Such test shall be conducted within 30 days after the date the subscriber submits a request for the test. If the written findings and conclusions of a test conducted in accordance with such section (or any successor regulation) demonstrate that the subscriber does not receive a signal that meets or exceeds the signal intensity standard in effect under section 119(d)(10)(A) of title 17, United States Code, the subscriber shall not be denied the retransmission of a signal of a network station under section 119 of title 17, United States Code.

(B) DESIGNATION OF TESTER AND ALLOCATION OF COSTS.-If the satellite carrier and the network station or stations asserting that the retransmission is prohibited are unable to agree on such a person to conduct the test, the person shall be designated by an independent and neutral entity designated by the Commission by rule. Unless the satellite carrier and the network station or stations otherwise agree, the costs of conducting the test under this paragraph shall be borne by the satellite carrier, if the station's signal meets or exceeds the signal intensity standard in effect under section 119(d)(10)(A) of title 17, United States Code, or by the network station, if its signal fails to meet or exceed such standard.

(C) AVOIDANCE OF UNDUE BURDEN.- Commission regulations prescribed under this paragraph shall seek to avoid any undue burden on any party.

(D) REDUCTION OF VERIFICATION BURDENS.-Within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, the Commission shall by rule exempt from the verification requirements of subparagraph (A) any request for a test made by a subscriber to a satellite carrier to whom the retransmission of the signals of local broadcast stations is available under section 338 from such carrier.

(E) EXCEPTION.-A satellite carrier may refuse to engage in the testing process. If the carrier does so refuse, a subscriber in a local market in which the satellite carrier does not offer the signals of local broadcast stations under section 338 may, at his or her own expense, authorize a signal intensity test to be performed pursuant to the procedures specified by the Commission in section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, by a tester who is approved by the satellite carrier and by each affected network station, or who has been previously approved by the satellite carrier and by each affected network station but not previously disapproved. A tester may not be so disapproved for a test after the tester has commenced such test. The tester shall give 5 business days advance written notice to the satellite carrier and to the affected network station or stations. A signal intensity test conducted in accordance with this subparagraph shall be determinative of the signal strength received at that household for purposes of determining whether the household is capable of receiving a Grade B intensity signal.

(5) DEFINITION.-Notwithstanding subsection (d)(4), for purposes of paragraphs (2) and (4) of this subsection, the term "satellite carrier" includes a distributor (as defined in section 119(d)(1) of title 17, United States Code), but only if the satellite distributor's relationship with the subscriber includes billing, collection, service activation, and service deactivation. (d) DEFINITIONS.-For the purposes of this section:

(1) LOCAL MARKET.-The term "local market" has the meaning given that term under section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code.

(2) NATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED SUPERSTATION.-The term "nationally distributed superstation" means a television broadcast station, licensed by the Commission, that—

(A) is not owned or operated by or affiliated with a television network that, as of January 1, 1995, offered interconnected program service on a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 affiliated television licensees in 10 or more States;

(B) on May 1, 1991, was retransmitted by a satellite carrier and was not a network station at that time; and

(C) was, as of July 1, 1998, retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the statutory license of section 119 of title 17, United States Code.

(3) NETWORK STATION.-The term "network station" has the meaning given such term under section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code.

(4) SATELLITE CARRIER.-The term "satellite carrier" has the meaning given such term under section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code.

(5) TELEVISION NETWORK.-The term "television network" means a television network in the United States 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.

SEC. 340. [47 U.S.C. 340] SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED SIGNALS PERMITTED TO BE CARRIED.

(a) SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED STATIONS.-In addition to the broadcast signals that subscribers may receive under section 338 and 339, a satellite carrier is also authorized to retransmit to a subscriber located in a community the signal of any station located outside the local market in which such subscriber is located, to the extent such signal

(1) has, before the date of enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, been determined by the Federal Communications Commission to be a signal a cable operator may carry as significantly viewed in such community, except to the extent that such signal is prevented from being carried by a cable system in such community under the Commission's network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity rules; or

(2) is, after such date of enactment, determined by the Commission to be significantly viewed in such community in accordance with the same standards and procedures concerning shares of viewing hours and audience surveys as are applicable under the rules, regulations, and authorizations of the Commission to determining with respect to a cable system whether signals are significantly viewed in a community. (b) LIMITATIONS.

(1) ANALOG SERVICE LIMITED TO SUBSCRIBERS TAKING LOCAL-INTO-LOCAL SERVICE.-With respect to a signal that originates as an analog signal of a network station, this section shall apply only to retransmissions to subscribers of a satellite carrier who receive retransmissions of a signal that originates as an analog signal of a local network station from that satellite carrier pursuant to section 338.

(2) DIGITAL SERVICE LIMITATIONS.-With respect to a signal that originates as a digital signal of a network station, this section shall apply only if—

(A) the subscriber receives from the satellite carrier pursuant to section 338 the retransmission of the digital signal of a network station in the subscriber's local market that is affiliated with the same television network; and (B) either—

(i) the retransmission of the local network station occupies at least the equivalent bandwidth as the digital signal retransmitted pursuant to this section; or

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