I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3719 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate retransmission consent negotiations between television broadcast stations and multichannel 

video programming distributors, to provide greater subscriber choice in 

cable service tiers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2013 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate 

retransmission consent negotiations between television 

broadcast stations and multichannel video programming 

distributors, to provide greater subscriber choice in cable 

service tiers, 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 ‘‘Video Consumers Have 

5 Options in Choosing Entertainment Act of 2013’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Video CHOICE Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. CARRIAGE DURING RETRANSMISSION CONSENT NE2 GOTIATION IMPASSE. 

3 Section 325(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) If a negotiation for a replacement or extended 

7 retransmission consent agreement between a television 

8 broadcast station and a multichannel video programming 

9 distributor reaches an impasse that results in the expira10 tion of the carriage rights of the multichannel video pro11 gramming distributor, the Commission may, notwith12 standing paragraph (1)(A), authorize interim carriage of 

13 such station by such distributor pending the conclusion 

14 of a new agreement.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF AGREEMENTS CONDITIONED ON 

16 CARRIAGE OF AFFILIATED PROGRAMMING. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 325(b) of the Commu18 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended by 

19 redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8) and insert20 ing after paragraph (6) the following: 

21 ‘‘(7) A television broadcast station that elects to exer22 cise its right to grant retransmission consent under this 

23 subsection may not enter into a retransmission consent 

24 agreement with a multichannel video programming dis25 tributor that is directly or indirectly conditioned on car26 riage of any other programming affiliated with such stamaindgalligan on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion (or with a person who owns or controls, is owned or 

2 controlled by, or is under common ownership or control 

3 with such station).’’. 

4 (b) NO EFFECT ON PRIOR AGREEMENTS.—The 

5 amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with re6 spect to retransmission consent agreements entered into 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING ON BLOCKING OF ONLINE CONTENT 

9 DURING NEGOTIATIONS. 

10 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commis12 sion shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to determine 

13 whether, during retransmission consent negotiations or 

14 after the parties to such negotiations reach an impasse 

15 resulting in the expiration of an existing retransmission 

16 consent agreement, the blocking of online content owned 

17 by or affiliated with a television broadcast station (or a 

18 person who owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, 

19 or is under common ownership or control with such sta20 tion) constitutes a failure to negotiate in good faith under 

21 section 325(b)(3)(C)(ii) of the Communications Act of 

22 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)(ii)). 

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1 SEC. 5. CABLE SERVICE TIERS. 

2 (a) CONTENTS OF BASIC SERVICE TIER.—Section 

3 623(b)(7)(A) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 543(b)(7)(A)) is amended by striking clause (iii). 

5 (b) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT SERVICE TIER.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 623(b) of the Com7 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543(b)) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(9) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT SERVICE

10 TIER.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each cable operator 

12 of a cable system shall offer its subscribers a 

13 separately available retransmission consent 

14 service tier that consists only of the signal of 

15 each television broadcast station electing re16 transmission consent under section 325(b) that 

17 is carried on the cable system. 

18 ‘‘(B) SUBJECT TO RATE REGULATION.— 

19 The retransmission consent service tier de20 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be subject to 

21 rate regulation under this Act to the same ex22 tent as the basic service tier described in para23 graph (7).’’. 

24 (2) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN BUNDLING.— 

25 Section 623(b)(8)(A) of the Communications Act of 

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1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543(b)(8)(A)) is amended to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—A cable operator may 

4 not require the subscription to any tier other 

5 than the basic service tier required by para6 graph (7) as a condition of access to, or dis7 criminate between subscribers to the basic serv8 ice tier and other subscribers with regard to the 

9 rates charged for— 

10 ‘‘(i) video programming offered on a 

11 per channel or per program basis; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) the retransmission consent serv13 ice tier described in paragraph (9).’’. 

14 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

15 623(a)(2)(A) of the Communications Act of 1934 

16 (47 U.S.C. 543(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘basic cable service’’ and inserting ‘‘the basic service 

18 tier described in subsection (b)(7)’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect on the date that is 6 months 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 6. FCC STUDY OF SPORTS PROGRAMMING COSTS. 

23 For the first year that begins after the date that is 

24 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

25 each year thereafter, the Federal Communications Commaindgalligan on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 mission shall conduct a study and submit to Congress a 

2 report on the costs paid by multichannel video program3 ming distributors (as defined in section 602 of the Com4 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522)) for carriage 

5 of regional and national television sports networks in the 

6 top 20 regional sports markets, as determined by the Com7 mission. 

Æ 

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