Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-110

§341 Carriage of Television Signals to Certain Subscribers

Title 47 › CHAPTER 5 — WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION › SUBCHAPTER III — SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO › Part I — General Provisions › § 341

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Cable and satellite TV companies can choose to carry certain in‑state broadcast stations to people in an eligible county. They may carry any in‑state station they were sending to that county on January 1, 2004, or, if that would be fewer than three stations, they may carry up to two in‑state stations. Stations carried this way count as "significantly viewed" under the FCC rule at 47 CFR 76.54. An eligible county is one of four counties in the same State that on January 1, 2004 were each in DMAs mostly in other States and together had 41,340 TV households (Nielsen 2003–2004). Carriage is optional. A satellite provider may not send a station into a neighboring local market that covers only part of a county, except to serve unserved households there.

Full Legal Text

Title 47, §341

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)In General.—

A cable operator or satellite carrier may elect to retransmit, to subscribers in an eligible county—

(A)any television broadcast stations that are located in the State in which the county is located and that any cable operator or satellite carrier was retransmitting to subscribers in the county on January 1, 2004; or

(B)up to 2 television broadcast stations located in the State in which the county is located, if the number of television broadcast stations that the cable operator or satellite carrier is authorized to carry under paragraph (1) is less than 3.

(2)Deemed Significantly Viewed.—

A station described in subsection (a) is deemed to be significantly viewed in the eligible county within the meaning of section 76.54 of the Commission’s regulations (47 CFR 76.54).

(3)Definition of Eligible County.—

For purposes of this section, the term “eligible county” means any 1 of 4 counties that—

(A)are all in a single State;

(B)on January 1, 2004, were each in designated market areas in which the majority of counties were located in another State or States; and

(C)as a group had a combined total of 41,340 television households according to the U.S. Television Household Estimates by Nielsen Media Research for 2003–2004.

(4)Limitation.—

Carriage of a station under this section shall be at the option of the cable operator or satellite carrier.

(b)Certain Markets.—

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a satellite carrier may not carry the signal of a television station into an adjacent local market that is comprised of only a portion of a county, other than to unserved households located in that county.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

47 U.S.C. § 341

Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110