I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5035 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to extend expiring provisions 

relating to the retransmission of signals of television broadcast stations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2019 

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to extend expiring provisions relating to the retransmission of signals 

of television broadcast stations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Television Viewer Pro5 tection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY. 

7 Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 

8 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5035 IH

1 (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘December 

2 31, 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘the expiration date, if any, 

3 described in section 119(h) of title 17, United States 

4 Code’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘January 

6 1, 2020’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Janu7 ary 1, 2025’’. 

8 SEC. 3. SATISFACTION OF GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATION RE9 QUIREMENT BY MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PRO10 GRAMMING DISTRIBUTORS. 

11 (a) SATISFACTION OF GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATION

12 REQUIREMENT.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) of the Commu13 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in16 serting a semicolon; 

17 (2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the 

18 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(vi) not later than 90 days after the date of 

21 the enactment of the Television Viewer Protection 

22 Act of 2019, specify that a multichannel video pro23 gramming distributor may satisfy its obligation to 

24 negotiate in good faith under clause (iii) with re25 spect to a negotiation for retransmission consent 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5035 IH

1 under this section with a large station group or a 

2 television broadcast station by designating a quali3 fied MVPD buying group to negotiate on its behalf, 

4 so long as the qualified MVPD buying group itself 

5 negotiates in good faith in accordance with such 

6 clause.’’. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 325(b)(7) of the Commu8 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7)) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

10 and inserting a semicolon; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

12 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) ‘qualified MVPD buying group’ means an 

15 entity that, with respect to a negotiation with a 

16 large station group or television broadcast station 

17 for retransmission consent under this section— 

18 ‘‘(i) negotiates on behalf of two or more 

19 multichannel video programming distributors— 

20 ‘‘(I) none of which is a multichannel 

21 video programming distributor that serves 

22 more than 1,000,000 subscribers nation23 ally; and 

24 ‘‘(II) that do not collectively serve 

25 more than 35 percent of all households 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5035 IH

1 served by a multichannel video program2 ming distributor in any single local market 

3 in which the applicable large station group 

4 or television broadcast station operates; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) negotiates agreements for such re7 transmission consent— 

8 ‘‘(I) that contain standardized con9 tract provisions, including billing struc10 tures and technical quality standards, for 

11 each multichannel video programming dis12 tributor on behalf of which the entity nego13 tiates; and 

14 ‘‘(II) under which the entity assumes 

15 liability to remit to the applicable large 

16 station group or television broadcast sta17 tion all fees received from the multichannel 

18 video programming distributors on behalf 

19 of which the entity negotiates; 

20 ‘‘(D) ‘large station group’ means a group of tel21 evision broadcast stations that— 

22 ‘‘(i) are directly or indirectly under com23 mon de jure control permitted by the regula24 tions of the Commission; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5035 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) generally negotiate agreements for re2 transmission consent under this section as a 

3 single entity; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) include, with respect to at least five 

5 different local markets, at least one television 

6 broadcast station ranked among the top four 

7 stations, based on audience share, as measured 

8 by Nielsen Media Research or by any com9 parable professional, accepted audience ratings 

10 service; 

11 ‘‘(E) ‘local market’ has the meaning given such 

12 term in section 122(j) of title 17, United States 

13 Code; and 

14 ‘‘(F) ‘multichannel video programing dis15 tributor’ has the meaning given such term in section 

16 602.’’. 

17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 325(b) of 

18 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1992,’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘, and the term ‘local mar23 ket’ has the meaning given that term in section 

24 122(j) of such title’’; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5035 IH

1 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘(as de2 fined in section 122(j) of title 17, United States 

3 Code)’’ each place it appears. 

4 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR COV5 ERED SERVICES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 

7 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 723. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR 

10 COVERED SERVICES. 

11 ‘‘(a) TRANSPARENCY IN ADVERTISING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A provider of a covered 

13 service may not advertise the price of the covered 

14 service unless the advertised price is the total 

15 amount that the provider will charge for or relating 

16 to the provision of the covered service, including any 

17 related taxes, administrative fees, equipment rental 

18 fees, or other charges, to a consumer who accepts 

19 the offer made in the advertisement. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not re21 quire a provider of a covered service to include in 

22 the advertised price of the covered service any tax, 

23 fee, or other charge that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the provider is required to charge 

25 under any provision of Federal law or of the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 5035 IH

1 law of a State or political subdivision of a 

2 State; and 

3 ‘‘(B) is not uniform throughout the United 

4 States. 

5 ‘‘(b) TRANSPARENCY IN E-BILLING.—If a provider 

6 of a covered service provides a bill to a consumer in an 

7 electronic format, the provider shall include in the bill and 

8 in any notification that the bill is available— 

9 ‘‘(1) an itemized statement that breaks down 

10 the total amount charged for or relating to the pro11 vision of the covered service by the amount charged 

12 for the provision of the service itself and the amount 

13 of any related taxes, administrative fees, equipment 

14 rental fees, or other charges, in the same level of de15 tail as would be provided in a paper bill; and 

16 ‘‘(2) the termination date of the contract for 

17 the provision of the covered service entered into be18 tween the consumer and the provider. 

19 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR INCREASES IN CHARGES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a provider of 

21 a covered service that enters into a contract with a 

22 consumer for the provision of a covered service, if 

23 the provider increases the total amount charged for 

24 or relating to the provision of the service under the 

25 contract, regardless of the amount of the increase or 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•HR 5035 IH

1 whether the increase is in the amount charged for 

2 the provision of the service itself or in any related 

3 taxes, administrative fees, equipment rental fees, or 

4 other charges, the provider shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) provide the consumer with clear no6 tice of the increase not later than 21 days be7 fore the increase takes effect, in the same man8 ner in which the provider provides to the con9 sumer a notification that the consumer’s bill is 

10 available (or, if no separate notification is pro11 vided, in the same manner as the provider pro12 vides the consumer’s bill to the consumer); and 

13 ‘‘(B) unless the increase is the result of an 

14 increase in a tax, fee, or other charge that the 

15 provider is required to charge under any provi16 sion of Federal law or of the law of a State or 

17 political subdivision of a State, or an additional 

18 such tax, fee, or other charge, permit the con19 sumer to terminate the contract without paying 

20 any early termination fee or other penalty. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ADDITIONAL OR UP22 GRADED SERVICE REQUESTED BY CONSUMER.— 

23 Paragraph (1) does not apply with respect to an in24 crease resulting from the provision, at the request of 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•HR 5035 IH

1 the consumer, of a service that is in addition to, or 

2 an upgrade of, a service covered by the contract. 

3 ‘‘(d) EQUIPMENT CHARGES.—A provider of a covered 

4 service may not charge a consumer for— 

5 ‘‘(1) using covered equipment provided by the 

6 consumer; or 

7 ‘‘(2) renting, leasing, or otherwise providing to 

8 the consumer covered equipment if— 

9 ‘‘(A) the provider has not provided the 

10 equipment to the consumer; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the consumer has returned the equip12 ment to the provider, except to the extent that 

13 the charge relates to the period beginning on 

14 the date when the provider provided the equip15 ment to the consumer and ending on the date 

16 when the consumer returned the equipment to 

17 the provider. 

18 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) COVERED EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘cov20 ered equipment’ means equipment (such as a router) 

21 employed on the premises of a person (other than a 

22 provider of a covered service) to provide a covered 

23 service. 

24 ‘‘(2) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘covered 

25 service’— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•HR 5035 IH

1 ‘‘(A) means— 

2 ‘‘(i) internet access service; 

3 ‘‘(ii) voice service (as defined in sec4 tion 227(e)(8)); 

5 ‘‘(iii) commercial mobile service (as 

6 defined in section 332); 

7 ‘‘(iv) commercial mobile data service 

8 (as defined in section 6001 of the Middle 

9 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 

10 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)); and 

11 ‘‘(v) service provided by a multi12 channel video programming distributer (as 

13 defined in section 602), to the extent such 

14 distributor is acting as a multichannel 

15 video programming distributor; and 

16 ‘‘(B) includes any other service offered or 

17 provided as part of a bundle or package with 

18 any service referred to in subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(3) INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.—The term 

20 ‘internet access service’— 

21 ‘‘(A) means a mass-market retail service 

22 by wire or radio that provides the capability to 

23 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

24 substantially all internet endpoints, including 

25 any capabilities that are incidental to and enVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5035.IH H5035

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•HR 5035 IH

1 able the operation of the communications serv2 ice; and 

3 ‘‘(B) also includes any service that— 

4 ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro5 viding a functional equivalent of the service 

6 described in subparagraph (A); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 

8 set forth in this section.’’. 

9 (b) TRANSITIONAL RULE RELATING TO DEFINITION

10 OF VOICE SERVICE.—Subsection (e)(2)(A)(ii) of section 

11 723 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub12 section (a) of this section, shall apply before the effective 

13 date of the amendment made to subsection (e)(8) of sec14 tion 227 of such Act (47 U.S.C. 227) by subparagraph 

15 (C) of section 503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated 

16 Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if 

17 such amendment was already in effect. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 723 of the Commu19 nications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this 

20 section, shall apply beginning on the date that is 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 

22 subsection (c) of such section 723 shall not apply with re23 spect to a contract entered into, and as in effect, before 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•HR 5035 IH

1 the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS