For Immediate Release: 
September 3, 2021

Clarke Introduces Legislation To Empower Diverse Voices In Television and Virtual Media Through New Tax Credit

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) announced the introduction of H.R. 5056, the MVPD Tax Credit Act. This legislation would incentivize Multichannel Video Programming Distributors and their virtual counterparts (MVPDs and vMVPDs, respectively) to carry diverse and minority programming options through a limited tax credit for eligible distributors. 

The evolution of the Pay TV industry of the mid-20th century to the MVPD and vMVPD systems enjoyed nationwide today has concurrently fueled the growth of a handful of increasingly powerful media and technology companies. As such, an industry where innovation in programming and independent ownership once thrived is becoming increasingly dominated by just a handful of major corporations. The result is a concerning loss of entrepreneurial opportunities for smaller networks, leading to a frightening scarcity of diverse voices, such as those offered by women, minority, rural, and underprivileged creators. H.R. 5056, the MVPD Tax Credit Act, seeks to address this dearth of independent programming options via a tax credit to incentivize “Eligible Distributors” (MVPDs and vMVPDs) to enter into new or expanded carriage agreements with Qualified Independent Programmers. This legislation is set to usher in a new age of competition, creativity, and innovation in our media landscape while expanding entrepreneurial opportunities and promoting a diversity of viewpoints and programming.

“For many, MVPDs and vMVPDs are a primary means of engaging in the public conversation and hearing the perspectives which shape their own ideas and attitudes. While this current system excels in reaching populations across the country, it dangerously fails in its neglection of voices offering divergent, independent perspectives from those typically espoused on these platforms,” said Clarke. “Our diverse, rural, and underprivileged populations are consistently deprived any opportunity to share their unique viewpoints on the biggest stages on account of the BigTech and corporate interests who consistently refuse them a seat at the table. No entity should possess a stranglehold on our societal messaging. Though empowering America’s unheard voices is no small task, the MVPD Tax Credit Act is an important step towards platforming these populations which are so often marginalized.”

The specific provisions of the MVPD Tax Credit Act are as follows:
 

• For each qualifying carriage agreement with eligible independent programmers, an MVPD will be eligible for a tax credit equal to the lesser of:
• the net license fees paid or incurred by the MVPD or;
• the product of $0.10 multiplied by the number of subscribers per month receiving the independent programming provided under such agreement. 
• Programming credits will not exceed the product of $0.10 multiplied by 3 times the average number of an eligible distributor’s subscribers in a given taxable year.
• Tax credits received under this Act cannot also be claimed as a tax deduction

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Yvette D. Clarke has been in Congress since 2007. She represents New York’s Ninth Congressional District, which includes Central and South Brooklyn. Clarke is Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Taskforce on Immigration,  a Senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and a Senior Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security.