Section 331 Obligation Clarification Act

“(a) Television stations in underserved States

“(1) Channel allocation

“(A) Commission policy—It shall be the policy of the Commission to allocate channels for commercial television broadcasting in a manner which ensures that not less than 1 very high frequency channel and not less than 1 ultra high frequency channel shall be allocated to each State, if technically feasible.

“(B) Reallocation of very high frequency channels and ultra high frequency channels—In any case in which a licensee of a very high frequency commercial television broadcast station or an ultra high frequency commercial television broadcast station notifies the Commission to the effect that such licensee will agree to the reallocation of its channel to a community within a State in which, at the time of such notification, there is allocated no very high frequency commercial television broadcast channel or ultra high frequency commercial television broadcast channel, as applicable, the Commission shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, order such reallocation and issue a license to such licensee for that purpose under section 307.

“(2) Licensee requirements—Each licensee of a commercial television broadcast station that receives a license under paragraph (1)(B) shall—

“(A) broadcast on the channel of the licensee not fewer than 14 hours of common local programming per week, not fewer than 7 hours of which shall be broadcast between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and midnight;

“(B) include as part of the common local programming broadcast under subparagraph (A) a substantial amount of particularized local content;

“(C) maintain a broadcast studio in the station’s community of license for each license so received;

“(D) file with the Commission a quarterly disclosure of all programming broadcast under subparagraph (A) during the period covered by the disclosure, which—

“(i) shall include a separate list of programming included under subparagraph (B) with a detailed explanation of how that programming satisfies the requirements of subparagraph (B); and

“(ii) the Commission shall make publicly available; and

“(E) when developing the programming described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), or any public service announcement broadcast on the channel of the licensee, consult with community leaders and members of the general public in the market served by the station.

“(3) Effect of changes to ultra high frequency station—If a licensee that holds a license issued under paragraph (1)(B) changes from a very high frequency commercial television broadcast station to an ultra high frequency commercial television broadcast station—

“(A) the licensee shall ensure that the change does not affect any special service obligation imposed on the licensee because of the fact that the licensee received the license under that paragraph, without regard to whether the Commission imposed the obligation—

“(i) by rule or order; or

“(ii) as part of the grant or renewal of the license; and

“(B) the Commission may not directly or indirectly reduce or eliminate the special service obligation described in subparagraph (A) because of that change.

“(4) Definition—In this subsection, the term particularized local content means programming—

“(A) aired on a commercial television broadcast channel by a licensee that receives a license under paragraph (1)(B); and

“(B) that—

“(i) has specific, articulable, and particularized appeal for the community to which the channel described in subparagraph (A) is reallocated under paragraph (1)(B) that is separate and distinct from the general national or local television market appeal;

“(ii) includes news or public affairs information about the State, or the region of the State, in which the community described in clause (i) is located; and

“(iii) is responsive to the unique concerns of the community described in clause (i) as part of a State that lacks a television market that is centered in that State.”