H.R. 5140

Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019

This bill permanently reauthorizes a provision that allows satellite television providers to retransmit distant television signals to unserved households under a statutory license. (A statutory license allows a satellite provider to rebroadcast the signals by paying set fees and without negotiating with the relevant copyright holders.) The bill also limits what constitutes an unserved household under this provision.

Under the bill, an unserved household is (1) a household in a local market where any of the four most widely viewed television networks nationwide is not transmitted by any network television station in that market, or (2) a recreational vehicle or commercial truck. The bill removes several categories of households that currently qualify as unserved, such as households that can receive a local broadcast signal but received satellite retransmissions on certain dates.

To take advantage of the statutory license, a satellite provider generally must provide retransmissions of local television stations in all designated market areas (DMAs). However, a provider that does not provide such retransmissions of local stations to all DMAs may obtain a temporary statutory license by (1) demonstrating that the provider has made reasonable and good faith efforts to do so, and (2) filing a notice with the Copyright Office.