Goto Section: 76.60 | 76.62 | Table of Contents
FCC 76.61
Revised as of October 1, 2008
Goto Year:2007 |
2009
Sec. 76.61 Disputes concerning carriage.
(a) Complaints regarding carriage of local commercial television stations.
(1) Whenever a local commercial television station or a qualified low power
television station believes that a cable operator has failed to meet its
carriage or channel positioning obligations, pursuant to Sec. Sec. 76.56 and 76.57,
such station shall notify the operator, in writing, of the alleged failure
and identify its reasons for believing that the cable operator is obligated
to carry the signal of such station or position such signal on a particular
channel.
(2) The cable operator shall, within 30 days of receipt of such written
notification, respond in writing to such notification and either commence to
carry the signal of such station in accordance with the terms requested or
state its reasons for believing that it is not obligated to carry such
signal or is in compliance with the channel positioning and repositioning
and other requirements of the must-carry rules. If a refusal for carriage is
based on the station's distance from the cable system's principal headend,
the operator's response shall include the location of such headend. If a
cable operator denies carriage on the basis of the failure of the station to
deliver a good quality signal at the cable system's principal headend, the
cable operator must provide a list of equipment used to make the
measurements, the point of measurement and a list and detailed description
of the reception and over-the-air signal processing equipment used,
including sketches such as block diagrams and a description of the
methodology used for processing the signal at issue, in its response.
(3) A local commercial television station or qualified low power television
station that is denied carriage or channel positioning or repositioning in
accordance with the must-carry rules by a cable operator may file a
complaint with the Commission in accordance with the procedures set forth in
Sec. 76.7 of this part. In addition to the requirements of Sec. 76.7 of this part,
such complaint shall specifically:
(i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to meet its
obligations and the basis for such allegations.
(ii) Be accompanied by the notice from the complainant to the cable
television system operator, and the cable television system operator's
response, if any. If no timely response was received, the complaint shall so
state.
(iii) Establish the complaint is being filed within the sixty-day deadline
stated in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.
(4) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet
its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days
of such order or such other time period as the Commission may specify, the
cable operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an
obligation to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station
and continue such carriage for at least 12 months. If the Commission
determines that the cable operator has fully met the must-carry
requirements, it shall dismiss the complaint.
(5) No must-carry complaint filed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section
will be accepted by the Commission if filed more than sixty (60) days
after—
(i) The denial by a cable television system operator of request for carriage
or channel position contained in the notice required by paragraph (a)(1) of
this section, or
(ii) The failure to respond to such notice within the time period allowed by
paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(b) Complaints regarding carriage of qualified local NCE television
stations. (1) Whenever a qualified local NCE television station believes
that a cable operator has failed to comply with the signal carriage or
channel positioning requirements, pursuant to Sec. Sec. 76.56 through 76.57 of this
part, the station may file a complaint with the Commission in accordance
with the procedures set forth in Sec. 76.7 of this part. In addition to the
requirements of Sec. 76.7 of this part, such complaint shall specifically:
(i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to comply with
such requirements and state the basis for such allegations.
(ii) Be accompanied by any relevant correspondence between the complainant
and the cable television system operator.
(2) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet
its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days
of such order or such other period as the Commission may specify, the cable
operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an obligation
to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station and continue
such carriage for a period of time the Commission deems appropriate for the
specific case under consideration. If the Commission determines that the
cable operator has fully met the must-carry requirements, it shall dismiss
the complaint.
(3) With respect to must-carry complaints filed pursuant to paragraph (b) of
this section, such complaints may be filed at any time the complainant
believes that the cable television system operator has failed to comply with
the applicable provisions of subpart D of this part.
[ 58 FR 17362 , Apr. 2, 1993, as amended at 64 FR 6572 , Feb. 10, 1999]
Goto Section: 76.60 | 76.62
Goto Year: 2007 |
2009
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