47 USC § 331 - Very high frequency stations and AM radio stations | Title 47 - Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs | U.S. Code

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Current through Pub. L. 112-238. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

(a) Very high frequency stations

It shall be the policy of the Federal Communications Commission to allocate channels for very high frequency commercial television broadcasting in a manner which ensures that not less than one such channel shall be allocated to each State, if technically feasible. In any case in which licensee of a very 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 there is allocated no very high frequency commercial television broadcast channel at the time ^[1] such notification, the Commission shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, order such reallocation and issue a license to such licensee for that purpose pursuant to such notification for a term of not to exceed 5 years as provided in section 307 (d) ^[2] of this title.

(b) AM radio stations

It shall be the policy of the Commission, in any case in which the licensee of an existing AM daytime-only station located in a community with a population of more than 100,000 persons that lacks a local full-time aural station licensed to that community and that is located within a Class I station primary service area notifies the Commission that such licensee seeks to provide full-time service, to ensure that such a licensee is able to place a principal community contour signal over its entire community of license 24 hours a day, if technically feasible. The Commission shall report to the appropriate committees of Congress within 30 days after December 20, 1991, on how it intends to meet this policy goal.

[1] So in original. Probably should be followed by “of”.

[2] See References in Text note below.

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(a) Very high frequency stations

It shall be the policy of the Federal Communications Commission to allocate channels for very high frequency commercial television broadcasting in a manner which ensures that not less than one such channel shall be allocated to each State, if technically feasible. In any case in which licensee of a very 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 there is allocated no very high frequency commercial television broadcast channel at the time ^[1] such notification, the Commission shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, order such reallocation and issue a license to such licensee for that purpose pursuant to such notification for a term of not to exceed 5 years as provided in section 307 (d) ^[2] of this title.

(b) AM radio stations

It shall be the policy of the Commission, in any case in which the licensee of an existing AM daytime-only station located in a community with a population of more than 100,000 persons that lacks a local full-time aural station licensed to that community and that is located within a Class I station primary service area notifies the Commission that such licensee seeks to provide full-time service, to ensure that such a licensee is able to place a principal community contour signal over its entire community of license 24 hours a day, if technically feasible. The Commission shall report to the appropriate committees of Congress within 30 days after December 20, 1991, on how it intends to meet this policy goal.

[1] So in original. Probably should be followed by “of”.

[2] See References in Text note below.

Source

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 331, as added Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 355,Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 641; amended Pub. L. 102–243, § 4,Dec. 20, 1991, 105 Stat. 2402; Pub. L. 103–414, title III, § 303(a)(18),Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4295.)

References in Text

Subsec. (d) ofsection 307 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), was redesignated subsec. (c) ofsection 307 by Pub. L. 97–259, title I, § 112(a),Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1093.

Codification

December 20, 1991, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “the date of enactment of this Act”, which was translated as meaning the date of enactment of Pub. L. 102–243, which enacted subsec. (b), to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Another section 331 of act June 19, 1934 was renumbered section 332 and is classified to section 332 of this title.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 331, act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 331, as added Sept. 14, 1973, Pub. L. 93–107, § 1, 87 Stat. 350, related to broadcasting of games of professional sports clubs, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 93–107, § 2,Sept. 14, 1973, 87 Stat. 351, effective Dec. 31, 1975.

Amendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–414amended section catchline generally.

1991—Pub. L. 102–243inserted “and AM radio stations” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.

The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Wednesday, February 6, 2013

An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

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47 USC	Description of Change	Session Year	Public Law	Statutes at Large

This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.

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47 CFR - Title 47—Telecommunication

47 CFR 80 - STATIONS IN THE MARITIME SERVICES

47 CFR 97 - AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

47 USC § 331 - Very high frequency stations and AM radio stations

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