Title: Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019
This bill addresses provisions related to the retransmission of television-station signals and applies consumer-rights and transparency requirements to consumers' cable and satellite services.
Specifically, the bill extends a provision that allows a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to retransmit television-station signals directly to a home if the subscriber receiving the signal resides in an unserved household located outside the local market of such a station. The bill also allows an MVPD to designate a qualified MVPD buying group to negotiate on its behalf with large broadcast ownership groups regarding retransmission consent for broadcast programming.
Further, the bill requires that providers of internet, voice, mobile, data, and MVPD services (1) engage in transparent advertising and e-billing; (2) provide notice of, and allow penalty-free termination for, an increase in the total amount of the service under a contract; and (3) refrain from charging a consumer for using equipment not provided by the service provider.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5035 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Television Viewer Protection 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 ``January 1, 2020'' 
        each place it appears and inserting ``January 1, 2025''.

SEC. 3. SATISFACTION OF GOOD FAITH NEGOTIATION REQUIREMENT BY 
              MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING DISTRIBUTORS.

    (a) Satisfaction of Good Faith Negotiation Requirement.--Section 
325(b)(3)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) 
is amended--
            (1) in clause (iv), by striking ``; and'' and inserting 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:
            ``(vi) not later than 90 days after the date of the 
        enactment of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019, 
        specify that a multichannel video programming distributor may 
        satisfy its obligation to negotiate in good faith under clause 
        (iii) with respect to a negotiation for retransmission consent 
        under this section with a large station group or a television 
        broadcast station 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.''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 325(b)(7) of the Communications 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 or 
        television broadcast station 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 
                        1,000,000 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 applicable 
                        large station group or television broadcast 
                        station operates; and
                    ``(ii) negotiates agreements for such 
                retransmission consent--
                            ``(I) that contain standardized contract 
                        provisions, including billing structures and 
                        technical quality standards, for each 
                        multichannel video programming distributor on 
                        behalf of which the entity negotiates; and
                            ``(II) under which the entity assumes 
                        liability to remit to the applicable large 
                        station group or television broadcast station 
                        all fees received from the multichannel video 
                        programming distributors on behalf of which the 
                        entity negotiates;
            ``(D) `large station group' means a group of television 
        broadcast stations that--
                    ``(i) are directly or indirectly under common de 
                jure control permitted by the regulations of the 
                Commission;
                    ``(ii) generally negotiate agreements for 
                retransmission consent under this section as a single 
                entity; and
                    ``(iii) include, with respect to at least five 
                different local markets, at least one television 
                broadcast station ranked among the top four stations, 
                based on audience share, as measured by Nielsen Media 
                Research or by any comparable professional, accepted 
                audience ratings service;
            ``(E) `local market' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code; and
            ``(F) `multichannel video programing distributor' 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 market' has 
                the meaning given that term in section 122(j) of such 
                title''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ``(as defined in 
        section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code)'' each place it 
        appears.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR COVERED SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 723. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR COVERED SERVICES.

    ``(a) Transparency in Advertising.--
            ``(1) In general.--A provider of a covered service may not 
        advertise the price of the covered service unless the 
        advertised price is the total amount that the provider will 
        charge for or relating to the provision of the covered service, 
        including any related taxes, administrative fees, equipment 
        rental fees, or other charges, to a consumer who accepts the 
        offer made in the advertisement.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) does not require a provider 
        of a covered service to include in the advertised price of the 
        covered service any tax, fee, or other charge that--
                    ``(A) the provider is required to charge under any 
                provision of Federal law or of the law of a State or 
                political subdivision of a State; and
                    ``(B) is not uniform throughout the United States.
    ``(b) Transparency in E-Billing.--If a provider of a covered 
service provides a bill to a consumer in an electronic format, the 
provider shall include in the bill and in any notification that the 
bill is available--
            ``(1) an itemized statement that breaks down the total 
        amount charged for or relating to the provision of the covered 
        service by the amount charged for the provision of the service 
        itself and the amount of any related taxes, administrative 
        fees, equipment rental fees, or other charges, in the same 
        level of detail as would be provided in a paper bill; and
            ``(2) the termination date of the contract for the 
        provision of the covered service entered into between the 
        consumer and the provider.
    ``(c) Requirements for Increases in Charges.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of a provider of a covered 
        service that enters into a contract with a consumer for the 
        provision of a covered service, if the provider increases the 
        total amount charged for or relating to the provision of the 
        service under the contract, regardless of the amount of the 
        increase or whether the increase is in the amount charged for 
        the provision of the service itself or in any related taxes, 
        administrative fees, equipment rental fees, or other charges, 
        the provider shall--
                    ``(A) provide the consumer with clear notice of the 
                increase not later than 21 days before the increase 
                takes effect, in the same manner in which the provider 
                provides to the consumer a notification that the 
                consumer's bill is available (or, if no separate 
                notification is provided, in the same manner as the 
                provider provides the consumer's bill to the consumer); 
                and
                    ``(B) unless the increase is the result of an 
                increase in a tax, fee, or other charge that the 
                provider is required to charge under any provision of 
                Federal law or of the law of a State or political 
                subdivision of a State, or an additional such tax, fee, 
                or other charge, permit the consumer to terminate the 
                contract without paying any early termination fee or 
                other penalty.
            ``(2) Exception for additional or upgraded service 
        requested by consumer.--Paragraph (1) does not apply with 
        respect to an increase resulting from the provision, at the 
        request of the consumer, of a service that is in addition to, 
        or an upgrade of, a service covered by the contract.
    ``(d) Equipment Charges.--A provider of a covered service may not 
charge a consumer 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 equipment to 
                the provider, except to the extent that the charge 
                relates to the period beginning on the date when the 
                provider provided the equipment to the consumer and 
                ending on the date when the consumer returned the 
                equipment to the provider.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered equipment.--The term `covered equipment' 
        means equipment (such as a router) employed on the premises of 
        a person (other than a provider of a covered service) to 
        provide a covered service.
            ``(2) Covered service.--The term `covered service'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) internet access service;
                            ``(ii) voice service (as defined in section 
                        227(e)(8));
                            ``(iii) commercial mobile service (as 
                        defined in section 332);
                            ``(iv) commercial mobile data service (as 
                        defined in section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax 
                        Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 
                        1401)); and
                            ``(v) service provided by a multichannel 
                        video programming distributer (as defined in 
                        section 602), to the extent such distributor is 
                        acting as a multichannel video programming 
                        distributor; and
                    ``(B) includes any other service offered or 
                provided as part of a bundle or package with any 
                service referred to in subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Internet access service.--The term `internet access 
        service'--
                    ``(A) means a mass-market retail service by wire or 
                radio that provides the capability to transmit data to 
                and receive data from all or substantially all internet 
                endpoints, including any capabilities that are 
                incidental to and enable the operation of the 
                communications service; and
                    ``(B) also includes any service that--
                            ``(i) the Commission finds to be providing 
                        a functional equivalent of the service 
                        described in subparagraph (A); or
                            ``(ii) is used to evade the protections set 
                        forth in this section.''.
    (b) Transitional Rule Relating to Definition of Voice Service.--
Subsection (e)(2)(A)(ii) of section 723 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall apply before 
the effective date of the amendment made to subsection (e)(8) of 
section 227 of such Act (47 U.S.C. 227) by subparagraph (C) of section 
503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 
(Public Law 115-141) as if such amendment was already in effect.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 723 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall apply beginning on 
the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
except that subsection (c) of such section 723 shall not apply with 
respect to a contract entered into, and as in effect, before the date 
that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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