DA 20-641
Released:  June 18, 2020

ORDER IMPLEMENTING NEW RETRANSMISSION CONSENT PROVISIONS IN TELEVISION VIEWER PROTECTION ACT BECOMES EFFECTIVE ON JULY 20, 2020

MB Docket No. 20-31

On May 13, 2020, the Commission issued a Report and Order Implementation of Section 1003 of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019, MB Docket No. 20-31, Report and Order, FCC 20-63 (rel. May 13, 2020) (Order).
 revising section 76.65 of its rules, which governs good faith negotiation of retransmission consent, to implement provisions in section 1003 of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA). The Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-94, 133 Stat. 2534, 3198 (2019) (amendments codified at 47 U.S.C. § 325).  
  Section 1003 requires the Commission to adopt rules that provide for negotiation of retransmission consent between “qualified multichannel video programming distributor [MVPD] buying group[s]” and “large [broadcast] station group[s]” as those terms are defined in the TVPA. 47 U.S.C. § 325(b)(3)(C)(vi) (as added by section 1003(a)(3) of the TVPA).
  In the Order, the Commission adopted rules that:  (i) define the term “large station group” as used in section 1003 to mean, in relevant part, an entity whose individual television broadcast station members collectively have a national audience reach of more than 20 percent; Order at para. 6.
 (ii) define the term “qualified MVPD buying group” as used in section 1003 to mean, in relevant part, an entity that negotiates on behalf of MVPDs that collectively serve no more than 25 percent of all households receiving service from any MVPD in a given local market; Id. at para. 7.  
 (iii) codify in section 76.65 of its rules the provisions governing negotiation of retransmission consent between qualified MVPD buying groups and large station groups, as well as the definitions of “local market” and “multichannel video programming distributor” set forth in section 1003(b)(3); Id. at para. 8. 
 and (iv) make minor conforming changes to section 76.65. Id. 
  
The Commission stated that those rules would become effective thirty days after publication of the Order in the Federal Register. Id. at para. 13.
  The Federal Register published a summary of the Order on June 18, 2020. See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/06/18/2020-11130/implementation-of-provisions-of-the-television-viewer-protection-act-of-2019-governing-negotiation.   
  Accordingly, the rules adopted in the Order will take effect on July 20, 2020.


For additional information on this proceeding, contact Raelynn Remy of the Media Bureau, Policy Division, at Raelynn.Remy@fcc.gov or (202) 418-2120.

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