Agricultural News and Rural Content Act of 2019

“723. Carriage of rural video programming

“(a) Carriage requirements

“(1) In general—A multichannel video programming distributor with 5,000 or more subscribers shall use at least 1 percent of the channel capacity of such distributor to transmit or distribute to all of the subscribers of such distributor channels of video programming that predominantly serve the needs and interests of rural America.

“(2) Manner of transmission or distribution—In transmitting or distributing channels under paragraph (1), a multichannel video programming distributor shall—

“(A) use the same transmission or distribution technology that the multichannel video programming distributor uses to transmit or distribute the majority of the high-definition channels or programs of such distributor;

“(B) include such channels in the most basic tier or package of such distributor such that every subscriber of such distributor may access such channels; and

“(C) place such channels in an appropriate news channel neighborhood.

“(b) Disclosure requirements—A multichannel video programming distributor that is subject to subsection (a) shall—

“(1) prominently display, on a publicly available website, a list of the channels of video programming that predominantly serve the needs and interests of rural America included in the most basic tier or package of such distributor; and

“(2) disclose the information described in paragraph (1) at the point of sale.

“(c) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Channels of video programming that predominantly serve the needs and interests of rural America—The term “channels of video programming that predominantly serve the needs and interests of rural America” means unaffiliated and independent channels on which a majority of the video programming per week is dedicated to—

“(A) rural news and agricultural weather forecasts;

“(B) information from the commodity markets (including from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade);

“(C) programming focused on rural healthcare, rural development, and rural education; and

“(D) other content relating to the needs and interests of farmers and ranchers and the rural lifestyle.

“(2) Channel neighborhood—The term “channel neighborhood” means a portion of the channel line-up of a multichannel video programming distributor, or an area on a navigation menu of such a distributor, offering similar programming.

“(3) Multichannel video programming distributor—The term “multichannel video programming distributor” has the meaning given such term in section 602.

“(4) Unaffiliated and independent—The term “unaffiliated and independent” means, with respect to a channel and a multichannel video programming distributor, that such channel is not vertically integrated with, owned or controlled by, or under common ownership or control with, such distributor.

“(5) Video programming—The term “video programming” has the meaning given such term in section 602.”