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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Cervantes

DATE TYPED 2/24/05

HB HJM 76

SHORT TITLE Dona Ana in Single-State Market Area

SB

ANALYST Wilson

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Economic Development Department (EDD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Memorial 76 requests the New Mexico Congressional Delegation initiate and pro-

ceed with legislation to create a single-state designated marketing area and provide for the con-

venient access of the Albuquerque television broadcasting signals for Dona Ana county resi-

dents”.

Significant Issues

The memorial finds that “Dona Ana county TV viewers “currently receive only El Paso, Texas,

television broadcast signals” due to “antiquated” FCC restrictions and that those viewers should

be able to receive both Albuquerque and El Paso broadcasts.

The AGO provided the following:

The Cable Television Consumer Protection Act of 1992 amended several sections of

the Communications Act of 1934 to impose “must-carry” provisions on cable television

operators. Those provisions require cable operators to carry “local commercial televi-

sion stations” who are broadcasting within the operator’s television market as deter-

House Joint Memorial 76 -- Page 2

mined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC ) A designated market area

DMA) is a geographic market designation that defines each television market exclusive

of others, based on measured viewing. Television stations may file complaints with the

FCC asking that agency to impose mandatory carriage rights on cable operators. The

FCC will consider signal strength and viewership when deciding those complaints. This

memorial presumes that the FCC has determined that the DMA for El Paso includes

Dona Ana County.

It is uncertain that the special federal legislation called for by this memorial is an ap-

propriate means of over-riding the Nielson DMA determination of the El Paso market

area. Television stations broadcasting from Albuquerque may file complaints with the

FCC in order to impose mandatory carriage rights if they believe their DMA should in-

clude Dona Ana County.

DW/lg