LOW-POWER TELEVISION AND TRANSLATOR UPGRADE PROGRAM.

SEC. 3009. LOW-POWER TELEVISION AND TRANSLATOR UPGRADE PROGRAM.(a) Establishment.—The Assistant Secretary shall make payments of not to exceed $65,000,000, in the aggregate, during fiscal year 2009 from the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund established under section 309(j)(8)(E) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(E)) to implement and administer a program through which each licensee of an eligible low-power television station may receive reimbursement for equipment to upgrade low-power television stations from analog to digital in eligible rural communities, as that term is defined in section 610(b)(2) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1937 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(2)). Such reimbursements shall be issued to eligible stations no earlier than October 1, 2010. Priority reimbursements shall be given to eligible low-power television stations in which the license is held by a non-profit corporation and eligible low-power television stations that serve rural areas of fewer than 10,000 viewers.(b) Eligible Stations.—For purposes of this section, the term “eligible low-power television station” means a low-power television broadcast station, Class A television station, television translator station, or television booster station—(1) that is itself broadcasting exclusively in analog format; and(2) that has not converted from analog to digital operations prior to the date of enactment of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005.