Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-110
§535 Carriage of Noncommercial Educational Television
Title 47 › CHAPTER 5 — WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION › SUBCHAPTER V–A — CABLE COMMUNICATIONS › Part II — Use of Cable Channels and Cable Ownership Restrictions › § 535
Summary
Cable operators must carry the signals of qualified noncommercial educational TV stations on their systems. How many such stations must be carried depends on how many usable channels the system has: systems with 12 or fewer channels must carry one; systems with 13 to 36 channels must carry at least one and no more than three (but may carry more); systems that expand above 36 channels after March 29, 1990 must follow the same rules and, if required to carry three, do not have to add stations whose programming mostly repeats what another carried station already shows. Any noncommercial station the operator was already carrying on March 29, 1990 must continue to be carried unless both the operator and the station agree to stop. Operators may put added stations on unused public, educational, or government channels with local franchise approval. Carried stations must be sent in full (video, audio, closed captions) with the same technical quality and bandwidth given to commercial stations and without harmful degradation. A station cannot be moved or removed without 30 days’ written notice to the station and subscribers. Operators do not have to carry a station that fails to deliver a good-quality or required baseband signal. Signals added to meet these rules must be included in the cable system’s lowest-priced service tier that includes local commercial TV. Operators may not take money or other payment for required carriage, though a station may need to pay the cost to deliver a good-quality signal to the system’s main headend; an operator also need not add a distant station unless that station agrees to cover any extra copyright costs. A qualified noncommercial educational television station is a noncommercial broadcast TV station owned by a public agency, nonprofit, or municipality that meets certain licensing and funding tests. A qualified local noncommercial educational television station is one whose license area or service contour reaches the system’s main headend (within 50 miles or as defined by the rules). If a station thinks a cable operator broke these rules, the station can file a complaint with the Commission, which will let the operator respond and must decide within 120 days to order fixes or dismiss the complaint.
Full Legal Text
Title 47, §535
Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Carriage obligations
In addition to the carriage requirements set forth in section 534 of this title, each cable operator of a cable system shall carry the signals of qualified noncommercial educational television stations in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(b)Requirements to carry qualified stations
(1)General requirement to carry each qualified station
Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and subsection (e), each cable operator shall carry, on the cable system of that cable operator, any qualified local noncommercial educational television station requesting carriage.
(2)Systems with 12 or fewer channels
(A)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a cable operator of a cable system with 12 or fewer usable activated channels shall be required to carry the signal of one qualified local noncommercial educational television station; except that a cable operator of such a system shall comply with subsection (c) and may, in its discretion, carry the signals of other qualified noncommercial educational television stations.
(B)In the case of a cable system described in subparagraph (A) which operates beyond the presence of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station—
(i)the cable operator shall import and carry on that system the signal of one qualified noncommercial educational television station;
(ii)the selection for carriage of such a signal shall be at the election of the cable operator; and
(iii)in order to satisfy the requirements for carriage specified in this subsection, the cable operator of the system shall not be required to remove any other programming service actually provided to subscribers on March 29, 1990; except that such cable operator shall use the first channel available to satisfy the requirements of this subparagraph.
(3)Systems with 13 to 36 channels
(A)Subject to subsection (c), a cable operator of a cable system with 13 to 36 usable activated channels—
(i)shall carry the signal of at least one qualified local noncommercial educational television station but shall not be required to carry the signals of more than three such stations, and
(ii)may, in its discretion, carry additional such stations.
(B)In the case of a cable system described in this paragraph which operates beyond the presence of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station, the cable operator shall import and carry on that system the signal of at least one qualified noncommercial educational television station to comply with subparagraph (A)(i).
(C)The cable operator of a cable system described in this paragraph which carries the signal of a qualified local noncommercial educational station affiliated with a State public television network shall not be required to carry the signal of any additional qualified local noncommercial educational television stations affiliated with the same network if the programming of such additional stations is substantially duplicated by the programming of the qualified local noncommercial educational television station receiving carriage.
(D)A cable operator of a system described in this paragraph which increases the usable activated channel capacity of the system to more than 36 channels on or after March 29, 1990, shall, in accordance with the other provisions of this section, carry the signal of each qualified local noncommercial educational television station requesting carriage, subject to subsection (e).
(c)Continued carriage of existing stations
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, all cable operators shall continue to provide carriage to all qualified local noncommercial educational television stations whose signals were carried on their systems as of March 29, 1990. The requirements of this subsection may be waived with respect to a particular cable operator and a particular such station, upon the written consent of the cable operator and the station.
(d)Placement of additional signals
A cable operator required to add the signals of qualified local noncommercial educational television stations to a cable system under this section may do so, subject to approval by the franchising authority pursuant to section 531 of this title, by placing such additional stations on public, educational, or governmental channels not in use for their designated purposes.
(e)Systems with more than 36 channels
A cable operator of a cable system with a capacity of more than 36 usable activated channels which is required to carry the signals of three qualified local noncommercial educational television stations shall not be required to carry the signals of additional such stations the programming of which substantially duplicates the programming broadcast by another qualified local noncommercial educational television station requesting carriage. Substantial duplication shall be defined by the Commission in a manner that promotes access to distinctive noncommercial educational television services.
(f)Waiver of nonduplication rights
A qualified local noncommercial educational television station whose signal is carried by a cable operator shall not assert any network nonduplication rights it may have pursuant to section 76.92 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, to require the deletion of programs aired on other qualified local noncommercial educational television stations whose signals are carried by that cable operator.
(g)Conditions of carriage
(1)Content to be carried
A cable operator shall retransmit in its entirety the primary video, accompanying audio, and line 21 closed caption transmission of each qualified local noncommercial educational television station whose signal is carried on the cable system, and, to the extent technically feasible, program-related material carried in the vertical blanking interval, or on subcarriers, that may be necessary for receipt of programming by handicapped persons or for educational or language purposes. Retransmission of other material in the vertical blanking interval or on subcarriers shall be within the discretion of the cable operator.
(2)Bandwidth and technical quality
A cable operator shall provide each qualified local noncommercial educational television station whose signal is carried in accordance with this section with bandwidth and technical capacity equivalent to that provided to commercial television broadcast stations carried on the cable system and shall carry the signal of each qualified local noncommercial educational television station without material degradation.
(3)Changes in carriage
The signal of a qualified local noncommercial educational television station shall not be repositioned by a cable operator unless the cable operator, at least 30 days in advance of such repositioning, has provided written notice to the station and all subscribers of the cable system. For purposes of this paragraph, repositioning includes (A) assignment of a qualified local noncommercial educational television station to a cable system channel number different from the cable system channel number to which the station was assigned as of March 29, 1990, and (B) deletion of the station from the cable system. The notification provisions of this paragraph shall not be used to undermine or evade the channel positioning or carriage requirements imposed upon cable operators under this section.
(4)Good quality signal required
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, a cable operator shall not be required to carry the signal of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station which does not deliver to the cable system’s principal headend a signal of good quality or a baseband video signal, as may be defined by the Commission.
(5)Channel positioning
Each signal carried in fulfillment of the carriage obligations of a cable operator under this section shall be carried on the cable system channel number on which the qualified local noncommercial educational television station is broadcast over the air, or on the channel on which it was carried on July 19, 1985, at the election of the station, or on such other channel number as is mutually agreed upon by the station and the cable operator. Any dispute regarding the positioning of a qualified local noncommercial educational television station shall be resolved by the Commission.
(h)Availability of signals
Signals carried in fulfillment of the carriage obligations of a cable operator under this section shall be available to every subscriber as part of the cable system’s lowest priced service tier that includes the retransmission of local commercial television broadcast signals.
(i)Payment for carriage prohibited
(1)In general
A cable operator shall not accept monetary payment or other valuable consideration in exchange for carriage of the signal of any qualified local noncommercial educational television station carried in fulfillment of the requirements of this section, except that such a station may be required to bear the cost associated with delivering a good quality signal or a baseband video signal to the principal headend of the cable system.
(2)Distant signal exception
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a cable operator shall not be required to add the signal of a qualified local noncommercial educational television station not already carried under the provision of subsection (c), where such signal would be considered a distant signal for copyright purposes unless such station indemnifies the cable operator for any increased copyright costs resulting from carriage of such signal.
(j)Remedies
(1)Complaint
Whenever a qualified local noncommercial educational television station believes that a cable operator of a cable system has failed to comply with the signal carriage requirements of this section, the station may file a complaint with the Commission. Such complaint shall allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to comply with such requirements and state the basis for such allegations.
(2)Opportunity to respond
The Commission shall afford such cable operator an opportunity to present data, views, and arguments to establish that the cable operator has complied with the signal carriage requirements of this section.
(3)Remedial actions; dismissal
Within 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under this subsection, the Commission shall determine whether the cable operator has complied with the requirements of this section. If the Commission determines that the cable operator has failed to comply with such requirements, the Commission shall state with particularity the basis for such findings and order the cable operator to take such remedial action as is necessary to meet such requirements. If the Commission determines that the cable operator has fully complied with such requirements, the Commission shall dismiss the complaint.
(k)Identification of signals
A cable operator shall identify, upon request by any person, those signals carried in fulfillment of the requirements of this section.
(l)Definitions
For purposes of this section
(1) Qualified noncommercial educational television station
(2)Qualified local noncommercial educational television station
The term “qualified local noncommercial educational television station” means a qualified noncommercial educational television station—
(A)which is licensed to a principal community whose reference point, as defined in section 76.53 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on March 29, 1990), or any successor regulations thereto, is within 50 miles of the principal headend of the cable system; or
(B)whose Grade B service contour, as defined in section 73.683(a) of such title (as in effect on March 29, 1990), or any successor regulations thereto, encompasses the principal headend of the cable system.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, see section 28 of Pub. L. 102–385, set out as an
Effective Date
of 1992 Amendment note under section 325 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
47 U.S.C. § 535
Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110