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"copyright qualification" and "popularity" aspects of the
proposal. These features of the proposal also suggest that
the geographic location of cable systems would be an important
determinant of the degree to which they would be liable for
copyright payments. As noted above, the impact of TPT'S
proposal is likely to fall most heavily upon those systems
which, due to the unavailability of local signals, necessarily
will depend more heavily upon the carriage of distant signals.
(See Table VI.) Tables IV-A through IV-E present the data for

individual TPT systems in each of the five revenue classifi

cations.

IX.

COMPARATIVE FEE IMPACT OF H.R. 2223 AND PROPOSAL ON
TELEPROMPTER SYSTEMS

Table V presents a side-by-side comparison of copyright liability under the provisions of H.R. 2223 and the TPT proposal. This brings together the data from Tables II and IV in summary fashion. As indicated therein, the real significance of the TPT proposal lies in comparing its effects on the various revenue classifications of systems. For the 142 systems under the H.R. 2223 fee schedule, the copyright fee impact is 1.48 percent, or 8.6 cents per subscriber per month. The comparable figures for the 78 systems liable for copyright fees under the TPT proposal are 2.35 percent and 13.2 cents. Reviewing the data for each revenue classification indicates higher fee impact under the TPT proposal for systems in all revenue classes which remain liable (but somewhat higher

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impact on systems in the lower revenue classes).

For the 17

liable systems in the under $160,000 annual revenue class, the fee figures are 1.82 percent of revenues and 10.2 cents per

subscriber per month under the TPT proposal, as compared with

0.50 percent and 2.6 cents per subscriber per month under H.R.

2223. This pattern persists in all intermediate revenue classes. The smallest relative difference occurs in the

largest systems with annual revenues in excess of $640,000.

The comparable figures for this class of TPT systems is 1.88

percent and 11.2 cents under H.R. 2223 and 2.42 percent and

13.4 cents under the TPT proposal.

(It is also significant to

note that all revenue classes of systems, other than the

highest, experience net increases in absolute dollar liability, despite a substantial reduction in the number of systems liable for payment under the TPT proposal. For example, the data in Tables II and IV indicate that in all revenue classes

under $640,000, 109 TPT systems have a liability of $238,672, an average of $2,190 per system under H.R. 2223. Under TPT'S

proposal, 58 systems which remain liable bear a liability of

$355,329, an average of $6,126 per system.

The only reduction

in absolute dollar liability occurs in the over $640,000

revenue class, and the difference is over $250,000 in fees as

compared with H.R. 2223.)

Table V also presents what would appear to be the "bottom line" of the TPT proposal, which is total copyright fees for TPT systems liable under the proposal (a) as a

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percentage of total TPT system subscriber revenues, and (b)

per subscriber per month.

What emerges is an effective rate

for all systems of 1.28 percent and 7.5 cents per subscriber

per month under the proposal versus 1.48 percent and 8.6 cents

per subscriber per month under H.R. 2223. Again, all revenue classes of systems, other than the largest group, experience higher effective rates under the proposal than those which

result under H.R. 2223. Only the largest systems experience a
net reduction in effective rates under the proposal, from 1.88
percent and 11.2 cents per subscriber per month to 1.28
percent and 7.6 cents per subscriber per month.

n/e/r/a

2

3

Total Broadcast Revenue less commissions to agencies,
representatives and brokers and less cash discounts.
Derived from Total Broadcast Revenue less sale of
station time to networks.
'Derived from Net Broadcast Revenue less sale of
station time to networks.
Source: Federal Communications Commission, Public