Collapse to view only § 76.505 - Prohibition on buy outs.
- § 76.501 - Cross-ownership.
- § 76.502 - Time limits applicable to franchise authority consideration of transfer applications.
- § 76.503 - National subscriber limits.
- § 76.504 - Limits on carriage of vertically integrated programming.
- § 76.505 - Prohibition on buy outs.
§ 76.501 - Cross-ownership.
(a)-(c) [Reserved]
(d) No cable operator shall offer satellite master antenna television service (“SMATV”), as that service is defined in § 76.5(a)(2), separate and apart from any franchised cable service in any portion of the franchise area served by that cable operator's cable system, either directly or indirectly through an affiliate owned, operated, controlled, or under common control with the cable operator.
(e)(1) A cable operator may directly or indirectly, through an affiliate owned, operated, controlled by, or under common control with the cable operator, offer SMATV service within its franchise area if the cable operator's SMATV system was owned, operated, controlled by or under common control with the cable operator as of October 5, 1992.
(2) A cable operator may directly or indirectly, through an affiliate owned, operated, controlled by, or under common control with the cable operator, offer service within its franchise area through SMATV facilities, provided such service is offered in accordance with the terms and conditions of a cable franchise agreement.
(f) The restrictions in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section shall not apply to any cable operator in any franchise area in which a cable operator is subject to effective competition as determined under section 623(l) of the Communications Act.
Note 1 to § 76.501:Actual working control, in whatever manner exercised, shall be deemed a cognizable interest.
Note 2 to § 76.501:In applying the provisions of this section, ownership and other interests in an entity or entities covered by this rule will be attributed to their holders and deemed cognizable pursuant to the following criteria:
(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, partnership and direct ownership interests and any voting stock interest amounting to 5% or more of the outstanding voting stock of a corporation will be cognizable;
(b) Investment companies, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 80a-3, insurance companies and banks holding stock through their trust departments in trust accounts will be considered to have a cognizable interest only if they hold 20% or more of the outstanding voting stock of a corporation, or if any of the officers or directors of the corporation are representatives of the investment company, insurance company or bank concerned. Holdings by a bank or insurance company will be aggregated if the bank or insurance company has any right to determine how the stock will be voted. Holdings by investment companies will be aggregated if under common management.
(c) Attribution of ownership interests in an entity covered by this rule that are held indirectly by any party through one or more intervening corporations will be determined by successive multiplication of the ownership percentages for each link in the vertical ownership chain and application of the relevant attribution benchmark to the resulting product, except that wherever the ownership percentage for any link in the chain exceeds 50%, it shall not be included for purposes of this multiplication. [For example, if A owns 10% of company X, which owns 60% of company Y, which owns 25% of “Licensee,” then X's interest in “Licensee” would be 25% (the same as Y's interest since X's interest in Y exceeds 50%), and A's interest in “Licensee” would be 2.5% (0.1 × 0.25). Under the 5% attribution benchmark, X's interest in “Licensee” would be cognizable, while A's interest would not be cognizable.]
(d) Voting stock interests held in trust shall be attributed to any person who holds or shares the power to vote such stock, to any person who has the sole power to sell such stock, and to any person who has the right to revoke the trust at will or to replace the trustee at will. If the trustee has a familial, personal or extra-trust business relationship to the grantor or the beneficiary, the grantor or beneficiary, as appropriate, will be attributed with the stock interests held in trust. An otherwise qualified trust will be ineffective to insulate the grantor or beneficiary from attribution with the trust's assets unless all voting stock interests held by the grantor or beneficiary in the relevant entity covered by this rule are subject to said trust.
(e) Subject to paragraph (i) of this Note, holders of non-voting stock shall not be attributed an interest in the issuing entity. Subject to paragraph (i) of this Note, holders of debt and instruments such as warrants, convertible debentures, options or other non-voting interests with rights of conversion to voting interests shall not be attributed unless and until conversion is effected.
(f)(1) Subject to paragraph (i) of this Note, a limited partnership interest shall be attributed to a limited partner unless that partner is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the media-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies. An interest in a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) or Registered Limited Liability Partnership (“RLLP”) shall be attributed to the interest holder unless that interest holder is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the media-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies.
(2) In the case of a limited partnership, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, it must verify that the partnership agreement or certificate of limited partnership, with respect to the particular limited partner exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt limited partner has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the media activities of the partnership. In the case of an LLC or RLLP, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, it must verify that the organizational document, with respect to the particular interest holder exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt interest holder has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the media activities of the LLC or RLLP. The criteria which would assume adequate insulation for purposes of these certifications are described in the Memorandum Opinion and Order in MM Docket No. 83-46, FCC 85-252 (released June 24, 1985), as modified on reconsideration in the Memorandum Opinion and Order in MM Docket No. 83-46, FCC 86-410 (released November 28, 1986). Irrespective of the terms of the certificate of limited partnership or partnership agreement, or other organizational document in the case of an LLC or RLLP, however, no such certification shall be made if the individual or entity making the certification has actual knowledge of any material involvement of the limited partners, or other interest holders in the case of an LLC or RLLP, in the management or operation of the media businesses of the partnership or LLC or RLLP.
(3) In the case of an LLC or RLLP, the entity seeking insulation shall certify, in addition, that the relevant state statute authorizing LLCs permits an LLC member to insulate itself as required by our criteria.
(g) Officers and directors of an entity covered by this rule are considered to have a cognizable interest in the entity with which they are so associated. If any such entity engages in businesses in addition to its primary media business, it may request the Commission to waive attribution for any officer or director whose duties and responsibilities are wholly unrelated to its primary business. The officers and directors of a parent company of a media entity, with an attributable interest in any such subsidiary entity, shall be deemed to have a cognizable interest in the subsidiary unless the duties and responsibilities of the officer or director involved are wholly unrelated to the media subsidiary, and a certification properly documenting this fact is submitted to the Commission. The officers and directors of a sister corporation of a media entity shall not be attributed with ownership of that entity by virtue of such status.
(h) Discrete ownership interests held by the same individual or entity will be aggregated in determining whether or not an interest is cognizable under this section. An individual or entity will be deemed to have a cognizable investment if:
(1) The sum of the interests held by or through “passive investors” is equal to or exceeds 20 percent; or
(2) The sum of the interests other than those held by or through “passive investors” is equal to or exceeds 5 percent; or
(3) The sum of the interests computed under paragraph (i)(1) of this section plus the sum of the interests computed under paragraph (i)(2) of this section is equal to or exceeds 20 percent.
(i) Notwithstanding paragraphs (e) and (f) of this Note, the holder of an equity or debt interest or interests in an entity covered by this rule shall have that interest attributed if the equity (including all stockholdings, whether voting or nonvoting, common or preferred, and partnership interests) and debt interest or interests, in the aggregate, exceed 33 percent of the total asset value (all equity plus all debt) of that entity, provided however that:
(1) in applying the provisions of paragraph (i) of this note to §§ 76.501, 76.505 and 76.905(b)(2), the holder of an equity or debt interest or interests in a broadcast station, cable system, SMATV or multiple video distribution provider subject to § 76.501, § 76.505, or § 76.905(b)(2) (“interest holder”) shall have that interest attributed if the equity (including all stockholdings, whether voting or nonvoting, common or preferred, and partnership interests) and debt interest or interests, in the aggregate, exceed 33 percent of the total asset value (defined as the aggregate of all equity plus all debt) of that entity; and
(i) the interest holder also holds an interest in a broadcast station, cable system, SMATV, or multiple video distribution provider that operates in the same market, is subject to § 76.501, § 76.505, or § 76.905(b)(2) and is attributable without reference to this paragraph (i); or
(ii) the interest holder supplies over fifteen percent of the total weekly broadcast programming hours of the station in which the interest is held.
(2) For purposes of applying subparagraph (i)(1), the term “market” will be defined as it is defined under the rule that is being applied.
Note 3 to § 76.501:In cases where record and beneficial ownership of voting stock is not identical (e.g., bank nominees holding stock as record owners for the benefit of mutual funds, brokerage houses holding stock in street names for benefit of customers, investment advisors holding stock in their own names for the benefit of clients, and insurance companies holding stock), the party having the right to determine how the stock will be voted will be considered to own it for purposes of this subpart.
Note 4 to § 76.501:Paragraph (a) of this section will not be applied so as to require the divestiture of ownership interests proscribed herein solely because of the transfer of such interests to heirs or legatees by will or intestacy, provided that the degree or extent of the proscribed cross-ownership is not increased by such transfer.
Note 5 to § 76.501:Certifications pursuant to this section and these notes shall be sent to the attention of the Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, located at the address of the FCC's main office indicated in 47 CFR 0.401(a).
Note 6 to § 76.501:In applying paragraph (a) of § 76.501, for purposes of paragraph note 2(i) of this section, attribution of ownership interests in an entity covered by this rule that are held indirectly by any party through one or more intervening organizations will be determined by successive multiplication of the ownership percentages for each link in the vertical ownership chain and application of the relevant attribution benchmark to the resulting product. The ownership percentage for any link in the chain that exceeds 50% shall be included. [For example, if A owns 10% of company X, which owns 60% of company Y, which owns 25% of “Licensee,” then X's interest in “Licensee” would 15% (0.6 × 0.25), and A's interest in “Licensee” would be 1.5% (0.1 × 0.6 × 0.25).]
§ 76.502 - Time limits applicable to franchise authority consideration of transfer applications.
(a) A franchise authority shall have 120 days from the date of submission of a completed FCC Form 394, together with all exhibits, and any additional information required by the terms of the franchise agreement or applicable state or local law to act upon an application to sell, assign, or otherwise transfer controlling ownership of a cable system.
(b) A franchise authority that questions the accuracy of the information provided under paragraph (a) must notify the cable operator within 30 days of the filing of such information, or such information shall be deemed accepted, unless the cable operator has failed to provide any additional information reasonably requested by the franchise authority within 10 days of such request.
(c) If the franchise authority fails to act upon such transfer request within 120 days, such request shall be deemed granted unless the franchise authority and the requesting party otherwise agree to an extension of time.
§ 76.503 - National subscriber limits.
(a) No cable operator shall serve more than 30 percent of all multichannel-video programming subscribers nationwide through multichannel video programming distributors owned by such operator or in which such cable operator holds an attributable interest.
(b)-(d) [Reserved]
(e) “Multichannel video-programming subscribers” means subscribers who receive multichannel video-programming from cable systems, direct broadcast satellite services, direct-to-home satellite services, BRS/EBS, local multipoint distribution services, satellite master antenna television services (as defined in § 76.5(a)(2)), and open video systems.
(f) “Cable operator” means any person or entity that owns or has an attributable interest in an incumbent cable franchise.
(g) Prior to acquiring additional multichannel video-programming providers, any cable operator that serves 20% or more of multichannel video-programming subscribers nationwide shall certify to the Commission, concurrent with its applications to the Commission for transfer of licenses at issue in the acquisition, that no violation of the national subscriber limits prescribed in this section will occur as a result of such acquisition.
Note 1 to § 76.503:Certifications made under this section shall be sent to the attention of the Media Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, located at the address of the FCC's main office indicated in 47 CFR 0.401(a).
Note 2 to § 76.503:Attributable Interest shall be defined by reference to the criteria set forth in Notes 1 through 5 to § 76.501 provided however, that:
(a) Notes 2(f) and 2(g) to § 76.501 to shall not apply;
(b)(1) Subject to Note 2(i) to § 76.501, a limited partnership interest shall be attributed to a limited partner unless that partner is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies. An interest in a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) or Registered Limited Liability Partnership (“RLLP”) shall be attributed to the interest holder unless that interest holder is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies.
(2) In the case of a limited partnership, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, it must verify that the partnership agreement or certificate of limited partnership, with respect to the particular limited partner exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt limited partner has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming activities of the partnership. In the case of an LLC or RLLP, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, it must verify that the organizational document, with respect to the particular interest holder exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt interest holder has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming activities of the LLC or RLLP. The criteria which would assume adequate insulation for purposes of these certifications are described in the Report and Order, FCC No. 99-288, CS Docket No. 98-82 (released October 20, 1999). In order for the Commission to accept the certification, the certification must be accompanied by facts, e.g. in the form of documents, affidavits or declarations, that demonstrate that these insulation criteria are met. Irrespective of the terms of the certificate of limited partnership or partnership agreement, or other organizational document in the case of an LLC or RLLP, however, no such certification shall be made if the individual or entity making the certification has actual knowledge of any material involvement of the limited partners, or other interest holders in the case of an LLC or RLLP, in the management or operation of the video-programming activities of the partnership or LLC or RLLP.
(3) In the case of an LLC or RLLP, the entity seeking insulation shall certify, in addition, that the relevant state statute authorizing LLCs permits an LLC member to insulate itself as required by our criteria.
(c) Officers and directors of an entity covered by this rule are considered to have a cognizable interest in the entity with which they are so associated. If any such entity engages in activities other than video-programming activities, it may request the Commission to waive attribution for any officer or director whose duties and responsibilities are wholly unrelated to the entity's video-programming activities. In the case of common or appointed directors and officers, if common or appointed directors or officers have duties and responsibilities that are wholly unrelated to video-programming activities for both entities, the relevant entity may request the Commission to waive attribution of the director or officer. The officers and directors of a parent company of a video-programming business, with an attributable interest in any such subsidiary entity, shall be deemed to have a cognizable interest in the subsidiary unless the duties and responsibilities of the officer or director involved are wholly unrelated to the video-programming subsidiary, and a certification properly documenting this fact is submitted to the Commission. The officers and directors of a sister corporation of a cable system shall not be attributed with ownership of that entity by virtue of such status.
§ 76.504 - Limits on carriage of vertically integrated programming.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section no cable operator shall devote more than 40 percent of its activated channels to the carriage of national video programming services owned by the cable operator or in which the cable operator has an attributable interest.
(b) The channel occupancy limits set forth in paragraph (a) of this section shall apply only to channel capacity up to 75 channels.
(c) A cable operator may devote two additional channels or up to 45 percent of its channel capacity, whichever is greater, to the carriage of video programming services owned by the cable operator or in which the cable operator has an attributable interest provided such video programming services are minority-controlled.
(d) Cable operators carrying video programming services owned by the cable operator or in which the cable operator holds an attributable interest in excess of limits set forth in paragraph (a) of this section as of December 4, 1992, shall not be precluded by the restrictions in this section.
(e) Minority-controlled means more than 50 percent owned by one or more members of a minority group.
(f) Minority means Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander.
Note 1:Attributable interest shall be defined by reference to the criteria set forth in Notes 1 through 5 to § 76.501 provided however, that:
(a) Notes 2(f) and 2(g) to § 76.501 to shall not apply;
(b)(1) Subject to Note 2(i) to § 76.501, a limited partnership interest shall be attributed to a limited partner unless that partner is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies. An interest in a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) or Registered Limited Liability Partnership (“RLLP”) shall be attributed to the interest holder unless that interest holder is not materially involved, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming-related activities of the partnership and the relevant entity so certifies.
(2) In the case of a limited partnership, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, it must verify that the partnership agreement or certificate of limited partnership, with respect to the particular limited partner exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt limited partner has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming activities of the partnership. In the case of an LLC or RLLP, in order for an entity to make the certification set forth in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, it must verify that the organizational document, with respect to the particular interest holder exempt from attribution, establishes that the exempt interest holder has no material involvement, directly or indirectly, in the management or operation of the video programming activities of the LLC or RLLP. The criteria which would assume adequate insulation for purposes of these certifications are described in the Report and Order, FCC No. 99-288, CS Docket No. 98-82 (released October 20, 1999). In order for the Commission to accept the certification, the certification must be accompanied by facts, e.g. in the form of documents, affidavits or declarations, that demonstrate that these insulation criteria are met. Irrespective of the terms of the certificate of limited partnership or partnership agreement, or other organizational document in the case of an LLC or RLLP, however, no such certification shall be made if the individual or entity making the certification has actual knowledge of any material involvement of the limited partners, or other interest holders in the case of an LLC or RLLP, in the management or operation of the video-programming activities of the partnership or LLC or RLLP.
(3) In the case of an LLC or RLLP, the entity seeking insulation shall certify, in addition, that the relevant state statute authorizing LLCs permits an LLC member to insulate itself as required by our criteria.
(c) Officers and directors of an entity covered by this rule are considered to have a cognizable interest in the entity with which they are so associated. If any such entity engages in activities other than video-programming activities, it may request the Commission to waive attribution for any officer or director whose duties and responsibilities are wholly unrelated to the entity's video-programming activities. In the case of common or appointed directors and officers, if common or appointed directors or officers have duties and responsibilities that are wholly unrelated to video-programming activities for both entities, the relevant entity may request the Commission to waive attribution of the director or officer. The officers and directors of a parent company of a video-programming business, with an attributable interest in any such subsidiary entity, shall be deemed to have a cognizable interest in the subsidiary unless the duties and responsibilities of the officer or director involved are wholly unrelated to the video-programming subsidiary, and a certification properly documenting this fact is submitted to the Commission. The officers and directors of a sister corporation of a cable system shall not be attributed with ownership of that entity by virtue of such status.
§ 76.505 - Prohibition on buy outs.
(a) No local exchange carrier or any affiliate of such carrier owned by, operated by, controlled by, or under common control with such carrier may purchase or otherwise acquire directly or indirectly more than a 10 percent financial interest, or any management interest, in any cable operator providing cable service within the local exchange carrier's telephone service area.
(b) No cable operator or affiliate of a cable operator that is owned by, operated by, controlled by, or under common ownership with such cable operator may purchase or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, more than a 10 percent financial interest, or any management interest, in any local exchange carrier providing telephone exchange service within such cable operator's franchise area.
(c) A local exchange carrier and a cable operator whose telephone service area and cable franchise area, respectively, are in the same market may not enter into any joint venture or partnership to provide video programming directly to subscribers or to provide telecommunications services within such market.
(d) Exceptions:
(1) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section, a local exchange carrier (with respect to a cable system located in its telephone service area) and a cable operator (with respect to the facilities of a local exchange carrier used to provide telephone exchange service in its cable franchise area) may obtain a controlling interest in, management interest in, or enter into a joint venture or partnership with the operator of such system or facilities for the use of such system or facilities to the extent that:
(i) Such system or facilities only serve incorporated or unincorporated :
(A) Places or territories that have fewer than 35,000 inhabitants; and
(B) Are outside an urbanized area, as defined by the Bureau of the Census; and
(ii) In the case of a local exchange carrier, such system, in the aggregate with any other system in which such carrier has an interest, serves less than 10 percent of the households in the telephone service area of such carrier.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of this section, a local exchange carrier may obtain, with the concurrence of the cable operator on the rates, terms, and conditions, the use of that part of the transmission facilities of a cable system extending from the last multi-user terminal to the premises of the end user, if such use is reasonably limited in scope and duration, as determined by the Commission.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, a local exchange carrier may obtain a controlling interest in, or form a joint venture or other partnership with, or provide financing to, a cable system (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as “the subject cable system”) if:
(i) The subject cable system operates in a television market that is not in the top 25 markets, and such market has more than 1 cable system operator, and the subject cable system is not the cable system with the most subscribers in such television market;
(ii) The subject cable system and the cable system with the most subscribers in such television market held on May 1, 1995, cable television franchises from the largest municipality in the television market and the boundaries of such franchises were identical on such date;
(iii) The subject cable system is not owned by or under common ownership or control of any one of the 50 cable system operators with the most subscribers as such operators existed on May 1, 1995; and
(iv) The system with the most subscribers in the television market is owned by or under common ownership or control of any one of the 10 largest cable system operators as such operators existed on May 1, 1995.
(4) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to any cable system if:
(i) The cable system serves no more than 17,000 cable subscribers, of which no less than 8,000 live within an urban area, and no less than 6,000 live within a nonurbanized area as of June 1, 1995;
(ii) The cable system is not owned by, or under common ownership or control with, any of the 50 largest cable system operators in existence on June 1, 1995; and
(iii) The cable system operates in a television market that was not in the top 100 television markets as of June 1, 1995.
(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, a local exchange carrier with less than $100,000,000 in annual operating revenues (or any affiliate of such carrier owned by, operated by, controlled by, or under common control with such carrier) may purchase or otherwise acquire more than a 10 percent financial interest in, or any management interest in, or enter into a joint venture or partnership with, any cable system within the local exchange carrier's telephone service area that serves no more than 20,000 cable subscribers, if no more than 12,000 of those subscribers live within an urbanized area, as defined by the Bureau of the Census.
(6) The Commission may waive the restrictions of paragraphs (a), (b), or (c) of this section only if:
(i) The Commission determines that, because of the nature of the market served by the affected cable system or facilities used to provide telephone exchange service:
(A) The affected cable operator or local exchange carrier would be subjected to undue economic distress by the enforcement of such provisions;
(B) The system or facilities would not be economically viable if such provisions were enforced; or
(C) The anticompetitive effects of the proposed transaction are clearly outweighed in the public interest by the probable effect of the transaction in meeting the convenience and needs of the community to be served; and
(ii) The local franchising authority approves of such waiver.
(e) For purposes of this section, the term “telephone service area” when used in connection with a common carrier subject in whole or in part to title II of the Communications Act means the area within which such carrier provided telephone exchange service as of January 1, 1993, but if any common carrier after such date transfers its telephone exchange service facilities to another common carrier, the area to which such facilities provide telephone exchange service shall be treated as part of the telephone service area of the acquiring common carrier and not of the selling common carrier.
(f) For purposes of this section, entities are affiliated if either entity has an attributable interest in the other or if a third party has an attributable interest in both entities.
(g) Attributable interest shall be defined by reference to the criteria set forth in Notes 1 through 5 to § 76.501.