SCH13204 S.L.C. 113TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. ll To allow multichannel video programming distributors to provide video programming to subscribers on an a la carte basis, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Mr. MCCAIN llllllllll introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To allow multichannel video programming distributors to provide video programming to subscribers on an a la carte basis, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ''Television Consumer 5 Freedom Act of 2013''. 6 7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act-- 8 (1) the term ''a la carte'' means offering video 9 programming for purchase, whether on a wholesale 10 or retail basis, on an individual, per-channel basis SCH13204 S.L.C. 2 1 rather than as part of a package or tier of video pro- 2 gramming; 3 (2) the terms ''channel'', ''multichannel video 4 programming distributor'', and ''video program- 5 ming'' have the meaning given those terms in section 6 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 7 522); 8 9 (3) the term ''Commission'' means the Federal Communications Commission; 10 (4) the term ''local commercial television sta- 11 tion'' has the meaning given that term in section 12 614(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 13 U.S.C. 534(h)); 14 (5) the term ''qualified local noncommercial 15 educational television station'' has the meaning 16 given that term in section 615(l) of the Communica- 17 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 535(l)); and 18 (6) the term ''video programming vendor'' has 19 the meaning given that term in section 76.1300 of 20 subpart Q of part 76 of subchapter C of chapter I 21 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (47 C.F.R. 22 76.1300). 23 SEC. 3. A LA CARTE CHANNELS OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING. 24 (a) IN GENERAL.--Except as provided in section 25 623(b)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. SCH13204 S.L.C. 3 1 543(b)(7)), and notwithstanding any other provision of 2 law, or any regulation prescribed by the Commission, a 3 multichannel video programming distributor may provide 4 subscribers with any channel of video programming on an 5 la carte basis. 6 (b) INCENTIVES 7 PROGRAMMING TO ON AN A OFFER CHANNELS OF VIDEO LA CARTE BASIS.--Notwith- 8 standing any other provision of law, or regulation pre9 scribed by the Commission-- 10 (1) the retransmission by a multichannel video 11 programming distributor of a local commercial tele- 12 vision station that has elected retransmission con- 13 sent under section 325(b) of the Communications 14 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) shall not be subject 15 to the statutory license under sections 111(c) and 16 122 of title 17, United States Code, if the multi- 17 channel video programming distributor does not 18 offer such local commercial television station, and 19 any other channels of video programming under 20 common control with such local commercial tele- 21 vision station, for purchase by subscribers on an a 22 la carte basis; 23 (2) a local commercial television station may 24 not elect retransmission consent under section 25 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 SCH13204 S.L.C. 4 1 U.S.C. 325(b)) or avail itself of the protections of 2 the network program non-duplication and syndicated 3 exclusivity regulations under subpart F of part 76 of 4 subchapter C of chapter I of title 47, Code of Fed- 5 eral Regulations (47 C.F.R. 76.92 et seq.), if such 6 local commercial television station, and any other 7 channels of video programming under common con- 8 trol with such local commercial television station, is 9 not made available to multichannel video program- 10 ming distributors for purchase or sale on an a la 11 carte basis; and 12 (3) a video programming vendor may offer a 13 channel of video programming for purchase by a 14 multichannel video programming distributor as part 15 of a package of video programming only if such 16 video programming vendor also offers such channel 17 of video programming for purchase by the multi- 18 channel video programming distributor on an a la 19 carte basis. 20 (c) MINIMUM CONTENTS OF BASIC TIER.--The Com- 21 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is 22 amended-- 23 24 25 (1) in section 623 (47 U.S.C. 543)-- (A) in subsection (b)(7)(A)-- (i) by striking clauses (i) and (iii); SCH13204 S.L.C. 5 1 (ii) by redesignating clause (ii) as 2 clause (i); and 3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ''(ii) All local commercial television 6 stations and qualified low power stations 7 carried in fulfillment of the election under 8 section 325(b) by the station of its right to 9 mandatory carriage under section 614. 10 ''(iii) All qualified local noncommercial 11 educational television stations carried in 12 fulfillment of a request for carriage under 13 section 615.''; and 14 (B) in subsection (l), by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ''(3) The terms 'local commercial television sta- 17 tion' and 'qualified low power station' have the 18 meaning given those terms in section 614(h).''; 19 (2) in section 614(b) (47 U.S.C. 534(b))-- 20 (A) by striking paragraph (6) and redesig- 21 nating paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) as 22 paragraphs (6), (7), (8), and (9), respectively; 23 and 24 (B) in paragraph (6), as redesignated, by 25 striking ''Signals carried in fulfillment of the SCH13204 S.L.C. 6 1 requirements of this section'' and inserting ''All 2 local commercial television stations and quali- 3 fied low power stations carried in fulfillment of 4 the election by the station of its right to man- 5 datory carriage under this section''; and 6 (3) in section 615(h) (47 U.S.C. 535(h)), by 7 striking ''lowest priced service tier that includes the 8 retransmission of local commercial television broad- 9 cast signals.'' and inserting ''basic service tier.''. 10 (d) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.--If a multichannel 11 video programming distributor and a video programming 12 vendor fail to reach agreement regarding the terms, in13 cluding price, for the purchase by the multichannel video 14 programming distributor of the right to provide sub15 scribers with a local commercial television station or other 16 channel of video programming from the video program17 ming vendor on an a la carte basis, the multichannel video 18 programming distributor and the video programming ven19 dor each shall disclose to the Commission the terms of 20 the most recent offer made by the multichannel video pro21 gramming distributor and the video programming vendor, 22 respectively. 23 24 SEC. 4. SPECTRUM USE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 25 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended-- SCH13204 S.L.C. 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and (2) after paragraph (5), by inserting the following: ''(6) PARITY FOR OVER-THE-AIR AND MULTI- CHANNEL VIDEO PROGRAMMING VIEWERS.-- ''(A) IN GENERAL.--A television broadcast 8 station that does not retransmit the signal over- 9 the-air that is identical to the signal retrans- 10 mitted to a multichannel video programming 11 distributor shall forfeit any spectrum license of 12 such television broadcast station. 13 ''(B) REALLOCATION 14 OF SPECTRUM LICENSE.--Any 15 forfeited pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 16 reallocated and reassigned by the Commission 17 pursuant to section 309(j). 18 ''(C) AND REASSIGNMENT spectrum license EXCEPTION.--Subparagraph (A) 19 shall not apply to content that is a commercial 20 advertisement that is not more than 60 seconds 21 in duration. 22 ''(D) DEFINITIONS.--In this paragraph-- 23 ''(i) the terms 'multicast stream' and 24 'primary stream' have the meaning given SCH13204 S.L.C. 8 1 those terms in section 119(d) of title 17, 2 United States Code; and 3 ''(ii) the term 'multichannel video pro- 4 gramming distributor' has the meaning 5 given that term in section 602 (47 U.S.C. 6 522).''. 7 8 9 SEC. 5. SPORTS BLACKOUT REPEAL FOR PUBLICLY FINANCED STADIUMS. The Commission shall amend subpart F of part 76 10 of subchapter C of chapter I of title 47, Code of Federal 11 Regulations (47 C.F.R. 76.92 et seq.), to prohibit the ap12 plication of sports blackout regulations to the broadcast 13 of a sporting event taking place in a venue the construc14 tion of which was financed, in whole or in part, by the 15 Federal Government or a State or local government.