programs for special interest groups in the Los Angeles area providing ski information, surfing reports, racing information, or information about events occurring in the Los Angeles area. The information presented on these programs is not broadcast by San Diego stations in special programs, but much of the same information or its local equivalent is broadcast within San Diego news and weather programs. Nine hours during the week were devoted to late evening adult talk programs. There are no close equivalents locally. Finally, the Los Angeles stations presented 8 hours of programs for special interest groups or on behalf of special interest groups which are designed specifically for Los Angeles consumption. These programs do not have a specific interest for San Diegans. Examples are “Scholar Quiz," "Sunday Comics," "Ralph Story's L.A.,” and "Executive Board."

As to programs broadcast by KCET, the educational TV station operating on channel 28 in Los Angeles, a large number of these programs would be carried on the local San Diego educational station when it goes on the air. Much of channel 28's programing is on tape which would be available to the San Diego station, and a network of California educational TV stations is contemplated. which would tend to increase the amount of duplication as between the two stations. In addition, the local San Diego stations carry educational programs

Mr. ADAMS. The second thing is that following just a moment on Mr. Mackay's statement, you, then, do oppose local programing by CATV, even though it would not in any way be a duplication of what is being produced at the present time in your regular programing? Mr. MAIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ADAMS. In other words, local high school basketball games, or charitable groups, or a group that want to come in and hold some kind of an auction via TV.

Mr. MAIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ADAMS. Thank you. I have no further questions.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Watson.

Mr. WATSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I apologize for not hearing the testimony, and I have not read your written brief, but have you earlier told us exactly what effect CATV has had on your particular station, monetary effect? What loss of revenue, and so forth?

Home you told us that, or is it in your brief? If it is, then I won't repeat it.

Mr. MAIN. I believe Mr. Fox referred to that in the case of San Diego.

Mr. WATSON. He did.

Mr. MAIN. And in general terms he did as to the reaction of some advertisers and the trend that we notice. We believe that there will be very careful consideration in the future. In fact, tomorrow, in Chicago, there is a seminar of 600 people which is being conducted by the Chicago Advertising Club, which is mainly made up of advertising agencies, all the major advertising agencies in Chicago, and they are exploring this very problem, as to the effect of CATV in various

markets.

Mr. WATSON. Perhaps we can narrow the question down. Do you presently have a CATV in your coverage area of the various stations that you own?

Mr. MAIN. Yes, we do.

Mr. WATSON. Would you tell the committee specifically how long it has been in there, and the direct effect on your revenues? Not a trend. I think we have been discussing too many trends, and we are apprehensive about this, but I would like to know, and I believe it

would be helpful to the committee to know exactly what adverse effect it has had on your revenues.

Mr. MAIN. As Mr. Fox stated in the case of San Diego, he only could point to the trends, because as yet, there is a relatively small amount of CATV, and this applies to our Illinois stations as well.

I could cite one example. One of our competing stations in Peoria had a satellite in La Salle County. This satellite was a relatively small station. It duplicated many or most of the programs from the Peoria NBC station, and at the same time, it originated local news programs, weather, public service programs, and so forth.

La Salle County is a county that has a number of thousands of CATV's in this area, and considerable CATV's in the coverage area of this particular station. This station had to pull back and discontinue with permission of the FCC, by the way-all their local originations, because the station was losing so much money.

Now this was one of the factors. I do not claim this was all of the factors, because there was another problem of the market being large enough to support the station, but this was certainly one of the factors, because of so many CATV's in the area, as I understand, from this competing station.

Mr. WATSON. If I might make one further statement, I am interested in the regulation of CATV by the Commission. I am secondly interested in protecting the established stations, such as yours, but I believe it would be helpful if we could get some factual information rather than just refer to trends in reference to the adverse effects. I say that in all kindness.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Dingell?

Mr. DINGELL. No questions, Mr. Chairman.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Kornegay.

Mr. KORNEGAY. No questions, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Main, you and Mr. Fox, we want to thank you and the people who are with you, for appearing here this morning. You have been helpful to the committee.

Mr. Meyer, did you want to make a statement?

Mr. MEYER. Well, I felt that we would be derelict in our duty if we didn't mention that we were fortunate in having two Congressmen like Mr. Springer and Mr. Van Deerlin from our services areas.

We have observed that they are very hard working Members of Congress, and we are proud of them.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Mr. MEYER. There is one point, if I would not be out of order, Mr. Chairman, that I would like to offer to the record, if I may. It will be less than a minute, I would say.

The CHAIRMAN. How is that, sir?

Mr. MEYER. I say, there is one thing that I would like to offer for the record, which would take less than a minute, I believe.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you want to go ahead, then?

Mr. MEYER. Mr. Main referred to a meeting they were having in Chicago tomorrow. The subject of the meeting is CATV, pro and A full day's seminar with cocktails and luncheon-I didn't intend to read that part [laughter]-anyway, in the program, which I have in my possession, they make this statement "This impact depend

con.

ing on the number of homes served by CATV could change dramatically the economics and character of electronic communications, and the way broadcast media will be used and supported by advertisers." I would like to offer this for the record.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not believe the menu should be included, but what you read will go into the record.

Mr. MEYER. All right.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, all of you, and we appreciate your being here with us this morning.

Mr. MAIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. At this time, we will have Mr. Joe Foss, commissioner of the American Football League.

Mr. Foss, would you come forward, please? I see you have with you, as counsel or as your assistant one of the former distinguished Members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Lovre.

Proceed as you see fit, put your statement in the record, and summarize it, or whatever you wish to do.

STATEMENT OF JOE FOSS, COMMISSIONER, AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE; ACCOMPANIED BY HAROLD LOVRE, COUNSEL (A FORMER REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA)

Mr. Foss. Thank you, Chairman Staggers, and members of the committee. I will just hurriedly cover this prepared statement. I would like to have it inserted in the record.

The CHAIRMAN. It will be inserted in the record in its entirety, and you can summarize it or give it in full, whichever you wish. (The statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF JOE Foss, COMMISSIONER, AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Joe Foss and I am the commissioner of the American Football League. Our offices are in New York City and we currently have professional football teams in Boston, Buffalo, Houston, New York, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Oakland, and Miami.

We of the American Football League thank the members of the committee for granting us this time to testify on H.R. 13286. Our interest in H.R. 13286 arises as a result of televised professional football games by our league teams and their relation to the community antenna systems which are mushrooming throughout the country. We would like to have protection for our live telecasts. Perhaps some background would be appropriate at this time.

Professional football leagues, to protect attendance at home games, provide in their bylaws that no club shall be permitted to televise a game into the home territory of another team when the latter team is playing at home. In 1953, the Department of Justice brought an action against the National Football League contending that such "blackouts" violated the Sherman Act in that they restrained televising and radio broadcasting of professional football games. Judge Grim, sitting in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania held that restrictions preventing telecasting of outside games into home territories of other teams on days when they were playing at home was not illegal under the Sherman Act. He stated:

"The purpose of the Sherman Act certainly will not be served by prohibiting the defendant clubs, particularly the weaker clubs, from protecting their home gate receipts from the disastrous financial effects of invading telecasts of outside games. The member clubs of the National Football League, like those of any professional athletic league, can exist only as long as the league exists. The league is truly a unique business enterprise, which is entitled to protect its very

existence by agreeing to reasonable restrictions on its member clubs." (U.S. v. National Football League, 116 F. Supp. 319)

Thus, as can be seen, by the Grim decision professional football was given the right to "black out" within a reasonable area surrounding the city in which a professional football team was playing at home. In 1961, the Congress affirmed that professional team sports should have this "blackout" protection when they passed Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. 1291). This law provides that professional team sports may sell the television rights of the league's member clubs in one package without being held in violation of the antitrust laws. To protect home teams, the same act provides in section 1292:

"Section 1291 of this title shall not apply to any joint agreement described in such section which prohibits any person to whom such rights are sold or transferred from televising any games within any area, except within the home territory of a member club of the league on a day when such club is playing a game at home." [Emphasis added.]

I have cited instances in which a Federal district court and the Congress of the United States have held that it would not violate the antitrust laws for a team to "blackout" their home territory when the team is playing at home. Now, with that background in mind, I should like to discuss what this has to do with H.R. 13286 introduced by Chairman Staggers to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules and regulations with respect to community antenna systems, and for other purposes.

This protection which has been afforded professional sports leagues by the courts and the Congress is now in jeopardy because of the growth and expansion of community antenna systems. I would like to give you an example of what can happen. We currently have a franchise in the city of Buffalo, N.Y. Advertisements have been carried in the Buffalo Courier Express on August 1 and 18 of 1965 and February 27 of 1966 by the Courier Cable Co. of Buffalo which is promoting subscriptions for a community antenna system in Buffalo. I would like to quote from their advertisements:

"Although most people in the WNY area are able to receive only the signals from channels 2, 4, and 7 clearly, signals from Rochester, Hamilton, Toronto and Erie are usually poorly received. Through the use of CATV-Courier Cable Co. you will receive all 12 area stations with exceptional clarity enormously increasing the entertainment value of your television set * * *. Enjoy every major sporting event in the comfort of your living room. Whether it's hockey, football, baseball, horseracing and basketball let the Courier Cable Co. pick up that crisp clear picture you've always wanted and deliver it to your home, in black and white or color *** the reception is exceptional."

The advertisement of August 18 is even more direct in its approach. It states: "Hockey from Canada, at home pro football, Buffalo *** no more driving to Erie to watch blacked out Bills game played at home. Basketball, baseball, horseracing. You name it."

It then goes on to point out that the cheapest ticket for Buffalo professional football games is $3 for an end zone seat, whereas with the Courier Cable Co. service you can get a seat on the 50-yard line for only 16 cents a day which is their daily service charge.

This activity is directly contrary to the protections which have been afforded professional football leagues by court decisions and by Congress and it is the reason we are here today requesting legislation to provide protection for our live sports telecasts.

I would like to make it clear that we are not qualified to comment on such community antenna television stations relaying their signals to householders in rural areas or areas where the reception may be inadequate. We are fearful only of those community antenna facilities which are located within range of cities of large size. In my opening paragraphs, I pointed out the cities in which the American Football League has franchises. I should now like to point out those cities which have American Football League franchises where CATV is in existence or, at least, in the planning stage: New York City, Houston, San Diego, Oakland, Denver, Boston, and Buffalo. As can be seen, seven of our nine teams have community antenna facilities within at least 50 miles. I am not certain about Kansas City, but I have been told that a CATV proposal pending near Kansas City specifies it has a special channel for "blackout" sports telecasts. These stations like the Buffalo station can pick up a signal from elsewhere and send it right into the homes in cities where the courts and Congress have said

we could impose the "blackout". Such stations operating in or near our franchised cities can cut into attendance, thus, the individual teams and the leagues will suffer.

A second factor involved here is the attitude of the networks with whom we have signed contracts that they shall have the exclusive right to televise our games. With such community antenna facilities taking the game off the air for their own use, the networks can logically object. Since a good portion of the fabric of professional sports is woven around television income, it must logically follow that any diminution of television revenues would automatically result in extensive pay cuts for the participating players, coaches, and administrative personnel. This would be multiplied many times when one takes into consideration the permanent personnel such as ushers, ticket takers, and concessionaire personnel.

We have searched for a method of protecting the integrity of our "blackout" areas. We feel that this protection is of small value unless we can find some effective method of enforcement against those who would violate those rights which have been given us. We appeared last year before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee requesting that we be given authority to copyright all games simultaneously with the original telecast. We feel that this would afford us the much needed protection; however, we feel that this committee could provide us protection in a more expeditious and less involved manner. The members of this committee are all familiar with section 325 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, which reads:

"Sec. 325 (a). No person within the jurisdiction of the United States shall knowingly utter or transmit, or cause to be uttered or transmitted, any false or fraudulent signal of distress or communication relating thereto, nor shall any broadcasting station rebroadcast the program or any part thereof of another broadcasting station without the express authority of the originating station." [Emphasis added.]

We respectfully request that H.R. 13286 be amended to provide that section 325(a) be amended to provide that no telecasting station as well as no broadcasting station shall retelecast a professional league football game or any part thereof of another telecasting station without the express authority of the originating station. We believe his would give us the protection we desire. Again, I would like to thank the chairman and the members of this committee for granting us this time to present our case.

Mr. Foss. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My name is Joe Foss, and I am commissioner of the American Football League, and have been since the inception of the league in 1960.

At present, our offices are located in New York City, at 280 Park Avenue. We have, for the 1966 season, nine teams in the league. They are at Boston, Buffalo, Houston, New York, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Oakland, and Miami.

Now, at present, by our constitution and bylaws, and by our contracts with a major network which is carrying our games for the next 4 years-it was a 5-year contract, 1965 being the first year of that contract-we are protected by the Grim decision and by the television bill which was passed in 1961. These give us an opportunity to operate in our various cities without our own television coming back on top of our games.

This is absolutely necessary, for if we had our own television coming back on top of us, it would be tough to sell tickets, especially in some of the areas where we have inclement weather at certain times of year. Now I can tell you from my experience as a lawmaker, and as an individual who has been interested in various communities, that I have previously been interested in CATV and seeing to it that television would be brought into the remote areas, whether it was by the regular stations or CATV or what it was, just so that these people out in remote areas could have the same advantage, or many of them, that we enjoy in the large cities.