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II
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 1655
To provide for the carriage of certain television broadcast stations, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019
Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To provide for the carriage of certain television broadcast
stations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. CARRIAGE OF TELEVISION BROADCAST STA-
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TIONS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
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sion of law, a cable operator may transmit to subscribers
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in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in the designated
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market area of Albany, New York (in this section referred
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to as the ‘‘Albany designated market area’’), any television
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broadcast station that—
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•S 1655 IS
(1) was retransmitted to subscribers located in
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Berkshire County in the Albany designated market
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area on December 1, 2016; and
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(2) as of the date of enactment of this Act, is
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not retransmitted to all subscribers in Berkshire
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County in the Albany designated market area.
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(b) NEGOTIATIONS.—A cable operator that engages
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in the retransmission described in subsection (a) shall en-
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gage in good faith negotiations within the meaning of sec-
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tion 76.65 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any
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successor thereto, with a television broadcast station re-
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garding the terms of such retransmission.
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(c) NONDUPLICATION.—Any television broadcast sta-
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tion licensed to a community within the Albany designated
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market area may assert network nonduplication or syn-
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dicated exclusivity protections against any cable system in
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any cable community located in Berkshire County, Massa-
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chusetts.
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(d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act
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shall be construed—
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(1) to alter any contract provided under section
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325 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
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325); or
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(2) to affect the applicability of any other com-
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munications or copyright law related to the retrans-
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•S 1655 IS
mission of a television broadcast station by a cable
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operator.
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