Agricultural News and Rural Content Act of 2019

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 multi- channel video programming distributors to carry rural video programming, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural News and 4 Rural Content Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. CARRIAGE OF RURAL VIDEO PROGRAMMING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 7 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:03 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2682.IH H2682 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2682 IH ‘‘SEC. 723. CARRIAGE OF RURAL VIDEO PROGRAMMING. 1 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE REQUIREMENTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A multichannel video pro- 3 gramming distributor with 5,000 or more sub- 4 scribers shall use at least 1 percent of the channel 5 capacity of such distributor to transmit or distribute 6 to all of the subscribers of such distributor channels 7 of video programming that predominantly serve the 8 needs and interests of rural America. 9 ‘‘(2) MANNER OF TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBU- 10 TION.—In transmitting or distributing channels 11 under paragraph (1), a multichannel video program- 12 ming distributor shall— 13 ‘‘(A) use the same transmission or dis- 14 tribution technology that the multichannel video 15 programming distributor uses to transmit or 16 distribute the majority of the high-definition 17 channels or programs of such distributor; 18 ‘‘(B) include such channels in the most 19 basic tier or package of such distributor such 20 that every subscriber of such distributor may 21 access such channels; and 22 ‘‘(C) place such channels in an appropriate 23 news channel neighborhood. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:03 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2682.IH H2682 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2682 IH ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—A multichannel 1 video programming distributor that is subject to sub- 2 section (a) shall— 3 ‘‘(1) prominently display, on a publicly available 4 website, a list of the channels of video programming 5 that predominantly serve the needs and interests of 6 rural America included in the most basic tier or 7 package of such distributor; and 8 ‘‘(2) disclose the information described in para- 9 graph (1) at the point of sale. 10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 ‘‘(1) CHANNELS OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING THAT 12 PREDOMINANTLY SERVE THE NEEDS AND INTER- 13 ESTS OF RURAL AMERICA.—The term ‘channels of 14 video programming that predominantly serve the 15 needs and interests of rural America’ means unaffili- 16 ated and independent channels on which a majority 17 of the video programming per week is dedicated to— 18 ‘‘(A) rural news and agricultural weather 19 forecasts; 20 ‘‘(B) information from the commodity mar- 21 kets (including from the Chicago Mercantile 22 Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:03 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2682.IH H2682 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2682 IH ‘‘(C) programming focused on rural 1 healthcare, rural development, and rural edu- 2 cation; and 3 ‘‘(D) other content relating to the needs 4 and interests of farmers and ranchers and the 5 rural lifestyle. 6 ‘‘(2) CHANNEL NEIGHBORHOOD.—The term 7 ‘channel neighborhood’ means a portion of the chan- 8 nel line-up of a multichannel video programming dis- 9 tributor, or an area on a navigation menu of such 10 a distributor, offering similar programming. 11 ‘‘(3) MULTICHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING 12 DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘multichannel video pro- 13 gramming distributor’ has the meaning given such 14 term in section 602. 15 ‘‘(4) UNAFFILIATED AND INDEPENDENT.—The 16 term ‘unaffiliated and independent’ means, with re- 17 spect to a channel and a multichannel video pro- 18 gramming distributor, that such channel is not 19 vertically integrated with, owned or controlled by, or 20 under common ownership or control with, such dis- 21 tributor. 22 ‘‘(5) VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The term ‘video 23 programming’ has the meaning given such term in 24 section 602.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:03 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2682.IH H2682 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2682 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 1 subsection (a) shall apply beginning on the date that is 2 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:03 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2682.IH H2682 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS