I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2682 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multichannel video 

programming distributors to carry rural video programming, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2019 

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama (for himself and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multichannel video programming distributors to carry rural 

video programming, 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 ‘‘Agricultural News and 

5 Rural Content Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CARRIAGE OF RURAL VIDEO PROGRAMMING. 

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

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

9 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 723. CARRIAGE OF RURAL VIDEO PROGRAMMING. 

2 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE REQUIREMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A multichannel video pro4 gramming distributor with 5,000 or more sub5 scribers shall use at least 1 percent of the channel 

6 capacity of such distributor to transmit or distribute 

7 to all of the subscribers of such distributor channels 

8 of video programming that predominantly serve the 

9 needs and interests of rural America. 

10 ‘‘(2) MANNER OF TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBU11 TION.—In transmitting or distributing channels 

12 under paragraph (1), a multichannel video program13 ming distributor shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) use the same transmission or dis15 tribution technology that the multichannel video 

16 programming distributor uses to transmit or 

17 distribute the majority of the high-definition 

18 channels or programs of such distributor; 

19 ‘‘(B) include such channels in the most 

20 basic tier or package of such distributor such 

21 that every subscriber of such distributor may 

22 access such channels; and 

23 ‘‘(C) place such channels in an appropriate 

24 news channel neighborhood. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—A multichannel 

2 video programming distributor that is subject to sub3 section (a) shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) prominently display, on a publicly available 

5 website, a list of the channels of video programming 

6 that predominantly serve the needs and interests of 

7 rural America included in the most basic tier or 

8 package of such distributor; and 

9 ‘‘(2) disclose the information described in para10 graph (1) at the point of sale. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) CHANNELS OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING THAT

13 PREDOMINANTLY SERVE THE NEEDS AND INTER14 ESTS OF RURAL AMERICA.—The term ‘channels of 

15 video programming that predominantly serve the 

16 needs and interests of rural America’ means unaffili17 ated and independent channels on which a majority 

18 of the video programming per week is dedicated to— 

19 ‘‘(A) rural news and agricultural weather 

20 forecasts; 

21 ‘‘(B) information from the commodity mar22 kets (including from the Chicago Mercantile 

23 Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade); 


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1 ‘‘(C) programming focused on rural 

2 healthcare, rural development, and rural edu3 cation; and 

4 ‘‘(D) other content relating to the needs 

5 and interests of farmers and ranchers and the 

6 rural lifestyle. 

7 ‘‘(2) CHANNEL NEIGHBORHOOD.—The term 

8 ‘channel neighborhood’ means a portion of the chan9 nel line-up of a multichannel video programming dis10 tributor, or an area on a navigation menu of such 

11 a distributor, offering similar programming. 

12 ‘‘(3) MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING

13 DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘multichannel video pro14 gramming distributor’ has the meaning given such 

15 term in section 602. 

16 ‘‘(4) UNAFFILIATED AND INDEPENDENT.—The 

17 term ‘unaffiliated and independent’ means, with re18 spect to a channel and a multichannel video pro19 gramming distributor, that such channel is not 

20 vertically integrated with, owned or controlled by, or 

21 under common ownership or control with, such dis22 tributor. 

23 ‘‘(5) VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The term ‘video 

24 programming’ has the meaning given such term in 

25 section 602.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply beginning on the date that is 

3 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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