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 Secs. 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.

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    (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 relating to must-carry complaints. In 
addition to the requirements of Sec. 76.7, such complaint shall 
specifically allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed 
to meet its obligations and the basis for such allegations.
    (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.
    (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 Secs.  76.56-76.57, the 
station may file a complaint with the Commission in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in Sec. 76.7. In addition to the requirements of 
Sec. 76.7, such complaint shall specifically allege the manner in which 
such cable operator has failed to comply with such requirements and 
state the basis for such allegations.
    (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.

[ 58 FR 17362 , Apr. 2, 1993]