IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5035 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 11, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to extend expir-
ing provisions relating to the retransmission of signals 
of television broadcast stations, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Television Viewer Pro-
tection Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY. 
Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘December 
31, 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘the expiration date, if any, 
described in section 119(h) of title 17, United States 
Code’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘until Jan-
uary 1, 2020,’’ each place it appears. 
SEC. 3. SATISFACTION OF GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATION RE-
QUIREMENT BY MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PRO-
GRAMMING DISTRIBUTORS. 
(a) SATISFACTION OF GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATION 
REQUIREMENT.—Section 325(b)(3)(C) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in-
serting a semicolon; 
(2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(vi) not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of the Television Viewer Protection 
Act of 2019, specify that— 
‘‘(I) a multichannel video programming 
distributor may satisfy its obligation to nego-
tiate in good faith under clause (iii) with re-
spect to a negotiation for retransmission con-
sent under this section with a large station 
group by designating a qualified MVPD buying 
group to negotiate on its behalf, so long as the 
qualified MVPD buying group itself negotiates 
in good faith in accordance with such clause; 
‘‘(II) it is a violation of the obligation to 
negotiate in good faith under clause (iii) for the 
qualified MVPD buying group to disclose the 
prices, terms, or conditions of an ongoing nego-
tiation or the final terms of a negotiation to a 
member of the qualified MVPD buying group 
that is not intending, or is unlikely, to enter 
into the final terms negotiated by the qualified 
MVPD buying group; and 
‘‘(III) a large station group has an obliga-
tion to negotiate in good faith under clause (ii) 
with respect to a negotiation for retransmission 
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consent under this section with a qualified 
MVPD buying group.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 325(b)(7) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) ‘qualified MVPD buying group’ means an 
entity that, with respect to a negotiation with a 
large station group for retransmission consent under 
this section— 
‘‘(i) negotiates on behalf of two or more 
multichannel video programming distributors— 
‘‘(I) none of which is a multichannel 
video programming distributor that serves 
more than 500,000 subscribers nationally; 
and 
‘‘(II) that do not collectively serve 
more than 25 percent of all households 
served by a multichannel video program-
ming distributor in any single local market 
in which the applicable large station group 
operates; and 
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‘‘(ii) negotiates agreements for such re-
transmission consent— 
‘‘(I) that contain standardized con-
tract provisions, including billing struc-
tures and technical quality standards, for 
each multichannel video programming dis-
tributor on behalf of which the entity nego-
tiates; and 
‘‘(II) under which the entity assumes 
liability to remit to the applicable large 
station group all fees received from the 
multichannel video programming distribu-
tors on behalf of which the entity nego-
tiates; 
‘‘(D) ‘large station group’ means a group of tel-
evision broadcast stations that— 
‘‘(i) are directly or indirectly under com-
mon de jure control permitted by the regula-
tions of the Commission; 
‘‘(ii) generally negotiate agreements for re-
transmission consent under this section as a 
single entity; and 
‘‘(iii) include only television broadcast sta-
tions that have a national audience reach of 
more than 20 percent; 
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‘‘(E) ‘local market’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 122(j) of title 17, United States 
Code; and 
‘‘(F) ‘multichannel video programming dis-
tributor’ has the meaning given such term in section 
602.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 325(b) of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1992,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, and the term ‘local mar-
ket’ has the meaning given that term in section 
122(j) of such title’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘(as de-
fined in section 122(j) of title 17, United States 
Code)’’ each place it appears. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section, and the regulations promulgated by the Fed-
eral Communications Commission under such amend-
ments, shall not take effect before January 1 of the cal-
endar year after the calendar year in which this Act is 
enacted. 
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SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR COV-
ERED SERVICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part IV of title VI of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 642. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR 
COVERED SERVICES. 
‘‘(a) CONSUMER RIGHTS IN SALES.— 
‘‘(1) RIGHT TO TRANSPARENCY.—Before enter-
ing into a contract with a consumer for the provision 
of a covered service, a provider of a covered service 
shall provide the consumer, by phone, in person, on-
line, or by other reasonable means, the total monthly 
charge for the covered service, whether offered indi-
vidually or as part of a bundled service, selected by 
the consumer (explicitly noting the amount of any 
applicable promotional discount reflected in such 
charge and when such discount will expire), includ-
ing any related administrative fees, equipment fees, 
or other charges, a good faith estimate of any tax, 
fee, or charge imposed by the Federal Government 
or a State or local government (whether imposed on 
the provider or imposed on the consumer but col-
lected by the provider), and a good faith estimate of 
any fee or charge that is used to recover any other 
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assessment imposed on the provider by the Federal 
Government or a State or local government. 
‘‘(2) RIGHT TO FORMAL NOTICE.—A provider 
of a covered service that enters into a contract de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall, not later than 24 
hours after entering into the contract, send the con-
sumer, by email, online link, or other reasonably 
comparable means, a copy of the information de-
scribed in such paragraph. 
‘‘(3) RIGHT TO CANCEL.—A provider of a cov-
ered service that enters into a contract described in 
paragraph (1) shall permit the consumer to cancel 
the contract, without paying early cancellation fees 
or other disconnection fees or penalties, during the 
24-hour period beginning when the provider of the 
covered service sends the copy required by para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(b) CONSUMER RIGHTS IN E-BILLING.—If a pro-
vider of a covered service provides a bill to a consumer 
in an electronic format, the provider shall include in the 
bill— 
‘‘(1) an itemized statement that breaks down 
the total amount charged for or relating to the pro-
vision of the covered service by the amount charged 
for the provision of the service itself and the amount 
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of all related taxes, administrative fees, equipment 
fees, or other charges; 
‘‘(2) the termination date of the contract for 
the provision of the covered service entered into be-
tween the consumer and the provider; and 
‘‘(3) the termination date of any applicable pro-
motional discount. 
‘‘(c) CONSUMER RIGHTS TO ACCURATE EQUIPMENT 
CHARGES.—A provider of a covered service or fixed 
broadband internet access service may not charge a con-
sumer for— 
‘‘(1) using covered equipment provided by the 
consumer; or 
‘‘(2) renting, leasing, or otherwise providing to 
the consumer covered equipment if— 
‘‘(A) the provider has not provided the 
equipment to the consumer; or 
‘‘(B) the consumer has returned the equip-
ment to the provider, except to the extent that 
the charge relates to the period beginning on 
the date when the provider provided the equip-
ment to the consumer and ending on the date 
when the consumer returned the equipment to 
the provider. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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‘‘(1) BROADBAND
INTERNET
ACCESS
SERV-
ICE.—The term ‘broadband internet access service’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) 
of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc-
cessor regulation. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘cov-
ered equipment’ means equipment (such as a router) 
employed on the premises of a person (other than a 
provider of a covered service or fixed broadband 
internet access service) to provide a covered service 
or to provide fixed broadband internet access service. 
‘‘(3) COVERED
SERVICE.—The term ‘covered 
service’ means service provided by a multichannel 
video programming distributer, to the extent such 
distributor is acting as a multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 642 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this 
section, shall apply beginning on the date that is 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Federal 
Communications Commission may grant an additional 6- 
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month extension if the Commission finds that good cause 
exists for such an additional extension. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 10, 
2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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