REDUCTION OF REQUIRED TESTS.

SEC. 209. REDUCTION OF REQUIRED TESTS. Section 339(c)(4) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 339(c)(4)) is amended by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new subparagraphs:“(D) Reduction of verification burdens.—Within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, the Commission shall by rule exempt from the verification requirements of subparagraph (A) any request for a test made by a subscriber to a satellite carrier to whom the retransmission of the signals of local broadcast stations is available under section 338 from such carrier.“(E) Exception.—A satellite carrier may refuse to engage in the testing process. If the carrier does so refuse, a subscriber in a local market in which the satellite carrier does not offer the signals of local broadcast stations under section 338 may, at his or her own expense, authorize a signal intensity test to be performed pursuant to the procedures specified by the Commission in section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, by a tester who is approved by the satellite carrier and by each affected network station, or who has been previously approved by the satellite carrier and by each affected network station but not previously disapproved. A tester may not be so disapproved for a test after the tester has commenced such test. The tester shall give 5 business days advance written notice to the satellite carrier and to the affected network station or stations. A signal intensity test conducted in accordance with this subparagraph shall be determinative of the signal strength received at that household for purposes of determining whether the household is capable of receiving a Grade B intensity signal.”.