§ 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

Link to an amendment published at 79 FR 63562, October 24, 2014.

(a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified zone of a television broadcast station licensed to a community in which a sports event is taking place, shall, on request of the holder of the broadcast rights to that event, or its agent, carry the live television broadcast of that event if the event is not available live on a television broadcast station meeting the criteria specified in §76.128. For purposes of this section, if there is no television station licensed to the community in which the sports event is taking place, the applicable specified zone shall be that of the television station licensed to the community with which the sports event or team is identified, or, if the event or local team is not identified with any particular community, the nearest community to which a television station is licensed.

(b) Notification of the programming to be deleted pursuant to this section shall include the following information:

(1) As to programming to be deleted from television broadcast signals regularly carried by the community unit:

(i) The name and address of the party requesting the program deletion;

(ii) The date, time and expected duration of the sports event the television broadcast of which is to be deleted;

(iii) The call letters of the television broadcast station(s) from which the deletion is to be made.

(2) As to programming to be deleted from television broadcast signals not regularly carried by the community unit:

(i) The name and address of the party requesting the program deletion;

(ii) The date, time and expected duration of the sports event the television broadcast of which is to be deleted.

(c) Notifications given pursuant to this section must be received, as to regularly scheduled events, no later than the Monday preceding the calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) during which the program deletion is to be made. Notifications as to events not regularly scheduled and revisions of notices previously submitted, must be received within twenty-four (24) hours after the time of the telecast to be deleted is known, but in any event no later than twenty-four (24) hours from the time the subject telecast is to take place.

(d) Whenever, pursuant to this section, a community unit is required to delete a television program on a signal regularly carried by the community unit, such community unit may, consistent with the rules contained in subpart F of this part, substitute a program from any other television broadcast station. A program substituted may be carried to its completion, and the community unit need not return to its regularly carried signal until it can do so without interrupting a program already in progress.

(e) The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to require the deletion of any portion of a television signal which a community unit was lawfully carrying prior to March 31, 1972.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any community unit having fewer than 1,000 subscribers.