SEC. 2. AGREEMENTS FOR CARRIAGE OF BROADCAST PRO-
GRAMMING. 
(a) AGREEMENTS
FOR CARRIAGE
OF BROADCAST 
PROGRAMMING.—Section 325 of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(3)(C)— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking the semicolon 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(B) by striking clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv); 
and 
(C) by redesignating clause (v) as clause 
(ii); and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS
FOR MARKETPLACE AGREE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(1) NEGOTIATION REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of the 
Modern Television Act of 2019, the Commission 
shall, by regulation— 
‘‘(i) require a television broadcast sta-
tion and multichannel video programming 
distributor (and any large station group or 
qualified MVPD buying group negotiating 
for a marketplace agreement on behalf of 
a television broadcast station or multi-
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channel video programming distributor, re-
spectively) to negotiate in good faith in any 
effort to reach a marketplace agreement; 
and 
‘‘(ii) prohibit a television broadcast 
station from coordinating negotiations or 
negotiating on a joint basis with another 
television broadcast station in the same 
local market in an effort to reach a mar-
ketplace agreement with a multichannel 
video programming distributor, unless such 
stations are directly or indirectly under 
common de jure control permitted under 
the regulations of the Commission. 
‘‘(B) GOOD FAITH REQUIREMENTS.—The 
regulations 
promulgated 
under 
paragraph 
(1)(A) shall provide— 
‘‘(i) that it is a violation of the re-
quirement under paragraph (1)(A)(i)— 
‘‘(I) for a multichannel video pro-
gramming 
distributor, 
a 
qualified 
MVPD buying group, a television 
broadcast station, or a large station 
group to refuse to declare an impasse 
for the sole purpose of avoiding bind-
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ing arbitration under subsection (g), 
as added by the Modern Television 
Act of 2019; or 
‘‘(II) for a large station group to 
prohibit a qualified MVPD buying 
group from permitting a multichannel 
video programming distributor with 
which the large station group has an 
existing marketplace agreement to 
join a new marketplace agreement ne-
gotiated by the large station group 
and the qualified MVPD buying group 
upon the expiration of the existing 
marketplace agreement, if the multi-
channel 
video 
programming 
dis-
tributor was unable to join the new 
marketplace agreement at the time of 
the execution of the agreement be-
cause of the existing marketplace 
agreement; 
‘‘(ii) that is not a violation of the re-
quirement under paragraph (1)(A)(i)— 
‘‘(I) for a television broadcast 
station or large station group to enter 
into marketplace agreements con-
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taining different terms and conditions, 
including price terms and royalty fees, 
with different multichannel video pro-
gramming distributors or with dif-
ferent qualified MVPD buying groups 
if such different terms and conditions 
are based on competitive marketplace 
considerations; or 
‘‘(II) for a multichannel video 
programming distributor or a quali-
fied MVPD buying group to enter into 
marketplace agreements containing 
different terms and conditions, includ-
ing price terms and royalty fees, with 
different television broadcast stations 
or with different large station groups 
if such different terms and conditions 
are based on competitive marketplace 
considerations; 
‘‘(iii) that a multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor may satisfy its obli-
gations under paragraph (1)(A)(i) by des-
ignating a qualified MVPD buying group 
to negotiate on its behalf, so long as the 
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qualified MVPD buying group itself nego-
tiates in good faith; and 
‘‘(iv) that a qualified MVPD buying 
group may satisfy any obligations under 
paragraph (1)(A)(i) to designate a rep-
resentative with authority to make binding 
representations by designating such a rep-
resentative that can make binding rep-
resentations on the qualified MVPD buy-
ing group’s behalf. 
‘‘(2) INTERIM CARRIAGE.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of the Modern 
Television Act of 2019, the Commission shall, by 
regulation, require a multichannel video program-
ming distributor to retransmit a signal of a tele-
vision broadcast station and the television broadcast 
station to permit the retransmission of that signal— 
‘‘(A) for a period not longer than 60 days 
beginning on the date on which a marketplace 
agreement entered into by the television broad-
cast station and the multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor (or by any large station 
group or qualified MVPD buying group negoti-
ating for a marketplace agreement on behalf of 
a television broadcast station or multichannel 
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video programming distributor, respectively) ex-
pires; and 
‘‘(B) under the terms and conditions of 
such expired agreement. 
‘‘(3) RETROACTIVITY OF MARKETPLACE AGREE-
MENT.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of the Modern Television Act of 2019, the 
Commission shall require, by regulation, each mar-
ketplace agreement entered into on or after such 
date of enactment by a television broadcast station 
and a multichannel video programming distributor 
(or by any large station group or qualified MVPD 
buying group negotiating for a marketplace agree-
ment on behalf of a television broadcast station or 
multichannel video programming distributor, respec-
tively) to include a clause making the terms of the 
agreement retroactive to the expiration date of the 
most recent marketplace agreement entered into by 
or on behalf of the station and the distributor if the 
station and the distributor— 
‘‘(A) had previously entered into a market-
place agreement; and 
‘‘(B) are required to retransmit a signal or 
permit the retransmission of a signal, as the 
case may be, under paragraph (2) or subsection 
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(g), as added by the Modern Television Act of 
2019. 
‘‘(4) PROHIBITION
ON
REQUIRING
CERTAIN 
PAYMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of the Modern Television Act of 
2019, the Commission shall, by regulation, prohibit 
a television broadcast station from requiring pay-
ment, either directly or indirectly, from a multi-
channel video programming distributor for cus-
tomers of the multichannel video programming dis-
tributor who do not receive the signals of the tele-
vision broadcast station from that distributor. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—The requirements under 
this subsection do not apply with respect to manda-
tory carriage of the signal of a television broadcast 
station that elects mandatory carriage under section 
338, 614, or 615. 
‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) LARGE STATION GROUP.—The term 
‘large station group’ means a group— 
‘‘(i) of commonly owned or controlled 
television broadcast stations that generally 
negotiate marketplace agreements as a sin-
gle entity; and 
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‘‘(ii) which includes, with respect to at 
least five different local markets, at least 
one television broadcast station ranked 
among the top four stations, based on au-
dience share, as measured by Nielsen 
Media Research or by any comparable pro-
fessional, accepted audience ratings serv-
ice. 
‘‘(B) LOCAL
MARKET.—The term ‘local 
market’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 122 of title 17, United States Code. 
‘‘(C) MARKETPLACE
AGREEMENT.—The 
term ‘marketplace agreement’ means an agree-
ment, or agreements, for— 
‘‘(i) the exclusive right under section 
106 of title 17, United States Code, to 
transmit a performance or display of a 
work embodied in primary transmission (as 
defined in section 111(f) of such title) of 
a television broadcast station and the roy-
alty fee payable; or 
‘‘(ii) retransmission consent under 
subsection (b), as in effect before the re-
peal made by the Modern Television Act of 
2019. 
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‘‘(D) MULTICHANNEL
VIDEO
PROGRAM-
MING
DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘multichannel 
video programming distributor’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 602. 
‘‘(E) QUALIFIED MVPD BUYING GROUP.— 
The term ‘qualified MVPD buying group’ 
means an entity, with respect to a large station 
group, that— 
‘‘(i) has been designated to negotiate 
on behalf of two or more multichannel 
video programming distributors— 
‘‘(I) none of which is a multi-
channel 
video 
programming 
dis-
tributor 
that 
serves 
more 
than 
5,000,000 subscribers nationally; and 
‘‘(II) that do not collectively 
serve more than 35 percent of all 
households served by a multichannel 
video programming distributor in any 
single local market in which the appli-
cable large station group operates; 
‘‘(ii) agrees to assume liability under 
a marketplace agreement only with respect 
to forwarding to the appropriate television 
broadcast station or large station group for 
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payment all fees received from the multi-
channel video programming distributors on 
behalf of which the entity negotiates; 
‘‘(iii) uniformly bills each multi-
channel video programming distributor on 
behalf of which the entity negotiates; 
‘‘(iv) agrees to standardized contract 
provisions for each multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor on behalf of which 
the entity negotiates; and 
‘‘(v) agrees either collectively or indi-
vidually on reasonable technical quality 
standards for each multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor on behalf of which 
the entity negotiates. 
‘‘(F) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.— 
The term ‘television broadcast station’ means 
an over-the-air commercial or noncommercial 
television broadcast station licensed by the 
Commission under subpart E of part 73 of title 
47, Code of Federal Regulations, except that 
such term does not include a low-power or 
translator television station.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend-
ments made by this section, shall take effect on the date 
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that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF REGULATORY INTERVENTION IN THE 
TELEVISION 
MARKETPLACE 
UNDER 
THE 
COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 
(a) REPEAL.—The following sections of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) are hereby 
repealed: 
(1) Section 325(b) (47 U.S.C. 325(b)). 
(2) Section 325(e) (47 U.S.C. 325(e)). 
(3) Section 339 (47 U.S.C. 339). 
(4) Section 340 (47 U.S.C. 340). 
(5) Section 341 (47 U.S.C. 341). 
(6) Section 342 (47 U.S.C. 342). 
(7) Section 612 (47 U.S.C. 532). 
(8) Section 712 (47 U.S.C. 612). 
(b) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) SECTION 338.—Section 338 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) in paragraph (1)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘or under a mar-
ketplace agreement (as that term is 
defined 
in 
section 
325),’’ 
after 
‘‘Code,’’; and 
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(II) by striking ‘‘, subject to sec-
tion 325(b)’’; 
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 
‘‘501(f)’’ each place it appears and insert-
ing ‘‘501(e)’’; 
(iii) in paragraph (3)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘whose signals’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘of title 
17, United States Code,’’; and 
(II) by inserting ‘‘or a market-
place agreement’’ after ‘‘such title’’; 
(iv) by amending paragraph (4) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(4) NONDISCRIMINATION
IN
CARRIAGE
OF 
HIGH-DEFINITION
SIGNALS
OF
NONCOMMERCIAL 
EDUCATIONAL
TELEVISION
STATIONS.—If, on or 
after the date of enactment of the Satellite Tele-
vision Extension and Localism Act of 2010, an eligi-
ble satellite carrier initiates the provision of any sec-
ondary transmission in high-definition format to 
subscribers located within the local market of a tele-
vision broadcast station of a primary transmission 
made by that station, then such satellite carrier shall 
carry the signals in high-definition format of all 
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qualified noncommercial educational television sta-
tions located within that local market.’’; and 
(v) by striking paragraph (5); 
(B) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘seeking 
carriage under subsection (a)(1)’’ after ‘‘signal 
of a local television broadcast station’’; 
(C) by striking subsection (h); 
(D) by redesignating subsections (i), (j), 
(k), and (l) as subsections (h), (i), (j), and (k), 
respectively; 
(E) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— 
(i) by striking paragraph (1); 
(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2), 
(3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) as 
paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), 
(8), and (9), respectively; 
(iii) in paragraph (3), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘122(j)’’ and inserting 
‘‘122(g)’’; 
(iv) in paragraph (6), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘119(d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘111(f)’’; 
(v) in paragraph (7), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘119(d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘111(f)’’; 
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