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]