Goto Section: 76.986 | 76.990 | Table of Contents
FCC 76.987
Revised as of October 1, 2008
Goto Year:2007 |
2009
Sec. 76.987 New product tiers.
(a) Operators may establish a category of CPSTs, referred to as “new product
tiers” (“NPTs”), and offer these tiers to subscribers at prices they elect.
(b) In order to be eligible to offer NPTs, cable operators must meet the
following conditions:
(1) Operators offering NPTs are prohibited from making fundamental changes
to what they offer on their BSTs and CPSTs offerings on September 30, 1994.
Operators may drop channels or move channels between BSTs and/or CPSTs or to
an a la carte offering so long as the aggregation of such changes do not
constitute a fundamental change in their BST or CPSTs.
(2) Operators may not drop channels that were offered on their BSTs or CPSTs
on September 30, 1994 and move them to NPTs unless they wait at least two
years from the date the channels were dropped from the BSTs or CPSTs. Time
shifted versions, slightly altered versions or renamed versions of channels
offered on BSTs and CPSTs on September 30, 1994 shall not be exempt from
this restriction.
(3) Operators must market their BSTs and CPSTs so that customers should be
reasonably aware that:
(i) Those tiers are being offered to the public;
(ii) The names of the channels available on those tiers; and
(iii) The price of the tiers. A subscriber may not be charged for an NPT
unless the cable operator has obtained the subscriber's affirmative consent.
Changes to the fundamental nature of an NPT must be approved by subscribers
in accordance with Sec. 76.981.
(4) Operators may not require the subscription to any tier, other than a
BST, as a condition for subscribing to an NPT and operators may not require
subscription to an NPT as a condition for subscribing to a CPST. These
restrictions will not apply to cable operators prior to October 5, 2002, if
such operators lack the capacity to offer BSTs and NPTs without also
providing other intermediate tiers of service as provided in Sec. 76.900(c).
(c) Operators may offer the same service on NPTs as are on one or more BSTs
or CPSTs. A channel that occupied a CPST or BST part-time on September 30,
1994 also may be offered full-time on an NPT as long as it continues to be
offered at least part-time on CPST or BST, under substantially the same
conditions as before it was offered on the NPT. If a channel occupies a BST
or CPST (regulated pursuant to Sec. 76.922) full-time on September 30, 1994, and
is subsequently reduced to part-time on the BST or CPST, that channel may
not be offered on an NPT full-time. Operators that offer a channel both on
an NPT and a BST or CPST will have a continuing obligation to ensure that
subscribers are aware that the channels are available on the CPST or BST.
(d) Operators may temporarily place new channels on CPSTs for marketing
purposes and then move them to NPTs. In order for an operator to move a
channel from a CPST to an NPT pursuant to this paragraph, the channel must
not have been offered on a BST or CPST prior to October 1, 1994.
(e) After initially electing to offer an NPT, a cable operator may cease to
provide the NPT, upon proper notice to subscribers pursuant to Sec. 76.1603. If
an operator drops an NPT and subsequently determines to reestablish that
tier, at the time of the reestablishment it must comply with the conditions
for offering NPTs set forth in paragraph (b) of this section.
(f) If the Commission receives a complaint about an NPT, the operator need
not file the rate justification provided in Sec. 76.956, but shall within the
time period provided by that rule file documentation that the NPT meets all
the conditions set forth in this section.
Note 1 to Sec. 76.987: Cable operators offering a NPT must comply with the
notice requirement of Sec. 76.1605.
[ 59 FR 62625 , Dec. 6, 1994, as amended at 65 FR 53617 , Sept. 5, 2000]
Goto Section: 76.986 | 76.990
Goto Year: 2007 |
2009
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