Sponsor
Tony Wied
Representative · R-WI
Representative · R-WI
The bill improves satellite TV access for certain rural Wisconsin viewers but shifts bargaining power away from local broadcasters, potentially leading to higher consumer costs or less local programming.
Residents in the specified Wisconsin counties (particularly rural communities) gain more reliable access to adjacent‑market network television via satellite, reducing blackouts and improving local TV availability where in‑state affiliates are unavailable.
Consumers in the affected areas could face higher costs or reduced local programming if broadcasters respond by raising carriage fees or restricting content in reaction to relaxed retransmission limits.
Local affiliated broadcasters in nearby markets may lose retransmission bargaining leverage and experience reduced carriage revenue, which could harm local media finance and jobs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows subscribers in 13 named Wisconsin counties to elect in‑State adjacent‑market network retransmissions and exempts those retransmissions from certain retransmission‑consent and satellite‑counting rules.
Official title: To amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, United States Code, to provide greater access to in-State television broadcast programming for cable and satellite subscribers in certain counties.
Introduced September 4, 2025 by Tony Wied · Last progress September 4, 2025
Creates a narrow rule letting cable subscribers or satellite customers in 13 named Wisconsin counties choose to receive an in‑State, adjacent‑market network station (rather than the local station) for each TV network. It treats those adjacent‑market signals as meeting existing carriage obligations, exempts them from certain retransmission‑consent limits, and adjusts satellite carriage counting and technical feasibility rules so carriers can supply those signals when possible. The changes add a new statutory subsection to the Communications Act, amend federal copyright carriage rules to define an “in‑State, adjacent‑market network station retransmission,” and explicitly list the covered Wisconsin counties where the option applies. The effect is to permit alternate in‑State network signals to serve viewers in those counties and to alter how those retransmissions are treated under retransmission‑consent and satellite carriage limits.