H.R. 888

119 HR 888 IH: Stop Sports Blackouts Act of 2025
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-31
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 888  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 31, 2025   Mr. Ryan  (for himself,  Mrs. McIver ,  Mr. Carson , and  Ms. Norton ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Energy and Commerce    A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations with respect to rebates for certain video programming blackouts, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Stop Sports Blackouts Act of 2025  .
2.
Rebates for video programming blackouts
Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
723.
Rebates for video programming blackouts
(a)
In general
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Commission shall promulgate regulations—
(1)
to require a provider to issue to a subscriber of such provider a rebate with respect to any period during which the provider denies such subscriber, as a result of a covered negotiation, access to video programming that such provider agreed, at the time of subscription entry or renewal (as the case may be), to provide to such subscriber during such period; and
(2)
to establish the appropriate amount of a rebate issued under paragraph (1).
(b)
Definitions
In this section:
(1)
Covered negotiation
The term  covered negotiation  means a negotiation with respect to—
(A)
retransmission consent of a television broadcast station under section 325(b); or
(B)
carriage of video programming of an entity that is not a television broadcast station.
(2)
Provider
The term  provider  means either of the following:
(A)
A cable operator (as defined in section 602).
(B)
A provider of direct broadcast satellite service (as defined in section 335(b)(5)).
(3)
Television broadcast station
The term  television broadcast station  has the meaning given such term in section 325(b)(7).
(4)
Video programming
The term  video programming  has the meaning given such term in section 602.
 .