,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cgai ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,december #ab1 #bjac,ms4 ,eshoo 7for herself and ,ms4 ,lofgren7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,communications ,act of #aicd to facilitate retransmission consent negotiations between television broadcast stations and multichannel video programming distributors1 to provide greater subscriber choice in cable service tiers1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,video ,consumers ,have ,options in ,choosing ,entertainment ,act of #bjac or the ,video ,,choice ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,carriage during retransmission consent negotiation impasse ,section #cbe7;b77#c7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #cbe7;b77#c77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7,d7 ,if a negotiation for a replacement or extended retransmission consent agreement between a television broadcast station and a multichannel video programming distributor reaches an impasse that results in the expiration of the carriage rights of the multichannel video programming distributor1 the ,commission may1 notwithstanding paragraph 7#a77;,a71 authorize interim carriage of such station by such distributor pending the conclusion of a new agreement4 4 #c4 ,prohibition of agreements conditioned on carriage of affiliated programming 7a7 ,in general ,section #cbe7;b7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #cbe7;b77 is amended by redesignating paragraph 7#g7 as paragraph 7#h7 and inserting after paragraph 7#f7 the following3 7#g7 ,a television broadcast station that elects to exercise its right to grant retransmission consent under this subsection may not enter into a retransmission consent agreement with a multichannel video programming distributor that is directly or indirectly conditioned on carriage of any other programming affiliated with such station 7or with a person who owns or controls1 is owned or controlled by1 or is under common ownership or control with such station74 4 7b7 ,no effect on prior agreements ,the amendment made by subsection 7a7 shall apply with respect to retransmission consent agreements entered into after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #d4 ,rulemaking on blocking of online content during negotiations ,not later than #f months after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,federal ,communications ,commission shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether1 during retransmission consent negotiations or after the parties to such negotiations reach an impasse resulting in the expiration of an existing retransmission consent agreement1 the blocking of online content owned by or affiliated with a television broadcast station 7or a person who owns or controls1 is owned or controlled by1 or is under common ownership or control with such station7 constitutes a failure to negotiate in good faith under section #cbe7;b77#c77;,c77ii7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #cbe7;b77#c77;,c77ii774 #e4 ,cable service tiers 7a7 ,contents of basic service tier ,section #fbc7;b77#g77;,a7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #edc7;b77#g77;,a77 is amended by striking clause 7iii74 7b7 ,retransmission consent service tier 7#a7 ,in general ,section #fbc7;b7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #edc7;b77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7#i7 ,retransmission consent service tier 7,a7 ,in general ,each cable operator of a cable system shall offer its subscribers a separately available retransmission consent service tier that consists only of the signal of each television broadcast station electing retransmission consent under section #cbe7;b7 that is carried on the cable system4 7,b7 ,subject to rate regulation ,the retransmission consent service tier described in subparagraph 7,a7 shall be subject to rate regulation under this ,act to the same extent as the basic service tier described in paragraph 7#g74 4 7#b7 ,prohibition on certain bundling ,section #fbc7;b77#h77;,a7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #edc7;b77#h77;,a77 is amended to read as follows3 7,a7 ,prohibition ,a cable operator may not require the subscription to any tier other than the basic service tier required by paragraph 7#g7 as a condition of access to1 or discriminate between subscribers to the basic service tier and other subscribers with regard to the rates charged for-- 7i7 video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis2 or 7ii7 the retransmission consent service tier described in paragraph 7#i74 4 7#c7 ,conforming amendment ,section #fbc7;a77#b77;,a7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #edc7;a77#b77;,a77 is amended by striking basic cable service and inserting the basic service tier described in subsection 7b77#g74 7c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is #f months after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #f4 ,,fcc study of sports programming costs ,for the first year that begins after the date that is #f months after the date of the enactment of this ,act and each year thereafter1 the ,federal ,communications ,commission shall conduct a study and submit to ,congress a report on the costs paid by multichannel video programming distributors 7as defined in section #fjb of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #ebb77 for carriage of regional and national television sports networks in the top #bj regional sports markets1 as determined by the ,commission4