§  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 § § 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 § 76.7 of this part. In addition to the
   requirements of § 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 § § 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 § 76.7 of
   this part. In addition to the requirements of § 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]