Electronic Delivery of MVPD Communications; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, 45659-45669 [2019-18527]
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‘‘MA, South Weymouth Naval Air
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[FR Doc. 2019–18600 Filed 8–29–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 25, 73, and 76
[MB Docket Nos. 17–317, 17–105; FCC 19–
69]
Electronic Delivery of MVPD
Communications; Modernization of
Media Regulation Initiative
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In this document, the Federal
Communications Commission
modernizes the carriage election notice
rules by permitting broadcasters to post
their carriage elections online and send
notices to covered multichannel video
programming distributors (MVPDs) by
email only when first electing carriage
or changing their carriage election status
from must carry to retransmission
consent or vice versa. Additionally, all
parties will be required to post their
contact information online on
Commission databases.
DATES:
Effective date: This rule is effective
October 29, 2019.
Compliance date: Compliance will
not be required for §§ 25.701, 73.3526,
73.3527, 76.64, and 76.66(d) until the
Commission publishes a document in
the Federal Register announcing the
compliance date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyle
Elder, Lyle.Elder@fcc.gov, 202–418–
2120, or Varsha Mangal,
Varsha.Mangal@fcc.gov, 202–418–0073.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s Report
and Order (Order), FCC 19–69, in MB
Docket Nos. 17–317, 17–105, adopted
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SUMMARY:
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on July 10, 2019, and released on July
11, 2019. The complete text of this
document is available electronically via
the search function on the FCC’s
Electronic Document Management
System (EDOCS) web page at https://
apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/ (https://
apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/). The
complete document is available for
inspection and copying in the FCC
Reference Information Center, 445 12th
Street SW, Room CY–A257,
Washington, DC 20554 (for hours of
operation, see https://www.fcc.gov/
general/fcc-reference-informationcenter). To request materials in
accessible formats for people with
disabilities (Braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format), send an
email to fcc504@fcc.gov (mail to:
fcc504@fcc.gov) or call the FCC’s
Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice), (202)
418–0432 (TTY).
Synopsis
1. Introduction. In this Report and
Order, we modernize the Commission’s
carriage election notice rules by
permitting broadcasters to post their
carriage elections online, and to send
notices to covered multichannel video
programming distributors (MVPDs) by
email only when changing their carriage
election status. This approach will
replace our current regulatory
framework, under which a broadcast
station typically must send a paper
notice via certified mail to covered
MVPDs every three years, regardless of
whether its carriage election changes or
not. For the purposes of this Order, a
covered MVPD is a cable operator,
Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)
provider, or any other MVPD for which
broadcasters currently elect or request
carriage and which uses the online
public file and/or Cable Operations and
Licensing System (COALS). To make
our new approach workable, we also
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will require covered MVPDs to upload
email and phone contact information to
either the COALS database or to the
online public inspection file. In
addition, in the Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking published
elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register, we seek comment on whether
and how the modernized framework
described in this Order should be
extended to certain broadcasters and
covered MVPDs that do not use the
Commission databases referenced in
this Order. Through this proceeding, the
Commission continues its efforts to
modernize regulations and reduce
unnecessary requirements that can
impede competition and innovation in
the media marketplace.
2. Background. The Commission has
long contemplated the potential for an
incubator program to provide new
sources of capital and support to entities
that may otherwise lack access to
financing or operational experience. In
concept, an incubator program seeks to
provide an established broadcaster with
an inducement in the form of an
ownership rule waiver or similar benefit
to invest the time, money, and resources
needed to facilitate broadcast station
ownership by new and diverse entrants.
An incubator program contemplates
that, in exchange for a defined benefit,
an established company could assist a
new owner by providing ‘‘management
or technical assistance, loan guarantees,
direct financial assistance through loans
or equity investments, training, or
business planning assistance.’’
3. Under the Communications Act of
1934, as amended (the Act), full power
television broadcast stations, and
certain low power stations and
translator stations, are entitled to
mandatory carriage of their signal (also
known as ‘‘must carry’’) on any cable
system located within their local
market, also known as their designated
market area (DMA). Full power stations
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also have carriage rights on any DBS
provider providing local service into the
market. Each satellite carrier providing
secondary transmissions to subscribers
located within the local market of a
television broadcast station of a primary
transmission made by that station shall
carry upon request the signals of all
other television broadcast stations
located within that local market. This
type of carriage is commonly known as
‘‘carry one, carry all.’’ Carry one, carry
all refers to the fact that DBS providers
are not required to carry any local
broadcast stations in a market, but must
carry all stations with carriage rights
upon request if any local station is
carried (with certain narrow
exceptions). The DBS must-carry/
retransmission consent regime
otherwise functions in a manner very
similar to the cable regime. But no low
power station shall be entitled to insist
on carriage under this section on DBS
providers. If a broadcast station asserts
its must-carry rights, the MVPD may not
accept or request any compensation
whatsoever from the broadcaster in
exchange for carriage of its signal.
Alternatively, commercial broadcast
stations with carriage rights may elect
‘‘retransmission consent.’’ The terms of
retransmission consent frequently
include, among other negotiated terms,
compensation from the MVPD to the
broadcaster in exchange for the right to
carry the station’s signal. If the
broadcaster and MVPD cannot reach a
retransmission consent agreement,
however, the MVPD is prohibited from
carrying the broadcaster’s signal. Thus,
commercial broadcasters are presented
with a carriage choice—elect mandatory
carriage and forego compensation while
assuring carriage, or elect
retransmission consent and forego
assured carriage while retaining the
possibility of compensation for carriage.
Noncommercial educational stations
(NCEs) are entitled to must carry, but
not to elect retransmission consent. Any
requests NCE stations make, including
those made at the outset of their or a
cable system’s operation, must be
included in their public file ‘‘for the
duration of any period to which the
request applies. When the Commission
implemented the statutory provisions
establishing the must-carry/
retransmission consent regime, it
adopted a requirement that each
commercial television broadcast station
provide notice to every cable operator
every three years electing either
mandatory carriage or retransmission
consent. Carriage elections by
commercial television stations must be
made by October 1 every three years, for
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the three-year period beginning the
following January. A similar triennial
notice requirement, applying to both
commercial and noncommercial
television broadcast stations, later was
adopted as part of the carry one, carry
all regime for DBS providers. Failure by
a broadcaster to provide timely notice of
its chosen election results in a default
election of must carry with respect to
cable operators, but a default of
retransmission consent with respect to
DBS providers.
4. Currently, the rules direct each
commercial television broadcast station
to send a triennial carriage election
notice, via certified mail, to each cable
system or DBS provider serving its
market, and each NCE station to send
such notices to DBS providers. As
discussed herein, NCE stations are not
required to make triennial cable carriage
elections. In addition, the rules
generally also require stations to place
triennial carriage election statements in
their online inspection files, but as
explained in the Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, neither qualified
low power television stations nor TV
translator stations are required under
our rules to maintain public inspection
files. The notice must state whether the
station has elected mandatory carriage
or retransmission consent. The rules
applicable to DBS provider notices also
require that the certified mail letter be
‘‘return receipt requested.’’
5. In response to the initial Public
Notice in the Media Modernization
proceeding, a number of commenters
expressed concerns about, and proposed
changes to, the carriage election
notification process. Specifically, ABC
Television Affiliates Association, CBS
Television Network Affiliates
Association, and FBC Television
Affiliates Association said the current
‘‘requirement burdens television
stations because there is no central
repository for the information
necessary’’ to send election notices.
Many of these commenters proposed
that broadcasters should be able to
satisfy their carriage election
requirement by sending an email to an
MVPD or simply uploading the carriage
election into their public file. But the
American Cable Association argued that
continued reliance on certified mail is
essential and AT&T proposed allowing
notice to be sent via any express mail
service, rather than only by certified
mail, return receipt requested. Although
some commenters in the Media
Modernization docket proposed even
broader changes to the must-carry/
retransmission consent system, in this
proceeding we are focused exclusively
on the way broadcasters communicate
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carriage elections and requests. In
response to these concerns, the
Commission adopted a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) (83 FR
2119, Jan. 16, 2018) and opened this
docket in December 2017. The NPRM
sought comment on alternative means of
notifying covered MVPDs about
broadcaster carriage elections that
would ‘‘satisfy the needs of broadcasters
and MVPDs.’’ The instant item adopts
changes to §§ 76.64(h) and 76.66(d), as
proposed in the NPRM, as well as
conforming edits to other related rules.
Almost every commenter responding to
the NPRM maintained that there are
flaws in the current election notification
system. For example, NAB estimates
that station groups are spending more
than $1,000 per station, per carriage
election cycle, on carriage elections,
between searching for MVPD contact
information, outside law firm expenses,
and certified mail costs. Despite this
time and expense, broadcasters claim
that they are often still not certain
whether they have correctly identified
and verified cable operators’ contact
information, and ‘‘send duplicative
notices to avoid the severe
consequences of making a defective
retransmission consent election.’’ To
avoid the significant legal and financial
consequences that arise from the failure
to make timely elections, and to reduce
the costs and resources incurred while
making the election, some commenters
suggested ways to modernize the
carriage election process. For example,
ION supported ‘‘a simple requirement
that stations post their elections in their
online public inspection files.’’ APTS
proposed that the ‘‘obligation to re-file
satellite carriage requests every three
years for NCE–TVs should be
eliminated.’’ NCTA proposed that
broadcasters submit their carriage
election notification via email to a
single point of contact for each operator.
DISH, though favoring the status quo,
proposed the creation of a Commissionhosted website through which
broadcasters can elect carriage, a
proposal endorsed by AT&T. AT&T
itself proposed to ‘‘permit broadcasters
to use express delivery mail with
tracking instead of certified mail.’’ With
the exception of the DBS providers,
commenters generally now support the
Joint Proposal, which synthesizes
various aspects of this wide array of
proposals.
6. On December 7, 2018, the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and
NCTA—the internet and Television
Association (NCTA) jointly submitted a
proposal setting forth a recommendation
of how to modernize the election
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notification process (Joint Proposal) for
commercial broadcasters and cable
operators. Specifically, the Joint
Proposal seeks to ‘‘alleviate the burdens
associated with the current notification
process’’ by revising our rules as
necessary so that
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a commercial broadcast TV station would be
required to send notice of its must carry or
retransmission consent election to a cable
operator only if the station changed its
election status from its previous election. In
those cases, the broadcaster would send its
notice to an email address listed in the cable
operator’s online public file or in the FCC’s
Cable Operations and Licensing System
(COALS) database, for cable operators that do
not have an online public file.
While the proposal’s terms are limited
to commercial broadcast stations and
cable operators, the types of entities that
are members of NAB and NCTA, NAB
‘‘believes these rules should apply
uniformly to all MVPDs.’’ NAB also has
stated that ‘‘There is no reason to limit
the proposal’s application to only
commercial broadcasters, and no one in
the record has suggested doing so. The
FCC should allow noncommercial
broadcasters to benefit from a
modernized notice regime, including by
no longer requiring them to ‘elect’
mandatory carriage every three years for
satellite providers.’’ The Joint Proposal
suggests that this change be in effect for
the 2021–2023 carriage election cycle.
The next carriage election deadline is
October 1, 2020. Broadcasters would
‘‘continue to include copies of their
election statements in their online
public files.’’
7. In order to make this process work,
NAB and NCTA propose that a
broadcaster email a notice to a cable
operator whenever changing its election
with respect to one or more of that
operator’s systems. Each such change
notice must ‘‘identify [the broadcast]
station call sign(s), the DMA and the
specific change being made in election
status,’’ and include an email address
and phone number ‘‘in case cable
operators have additional questions.’’
This email address and phone number
must also be on the ‘‘first page of each
of [a broadcaster’s] stations’ public
files,’’ and must be updated if they
change. If an operator has multiple
systems within a DMA, the notice must
identify them individually only if the
broadcaster ‘‘changes its election for
some systems . . . but not all.’’ If a
broadcaster is unable to deliver a
‘‘change of election’’ notice to a listed
email address due to a problem with the
email address or the operator’s ability to
receive the email, and is unable to
contact the operator using a provided
phone number, then the notice will still
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be considered to have been properly
delivered if it is timely placed in the
broadcaster’s public file and emailed to
the Commission.
8. NAB and NCTA suggest that each
cable operator ‘‘provide a general
carriage elections email address, where
broadcasters will send their election
notices’’ and a phone number to be used
only ‘‘in the event of questions as to
whether’’ a notice was received. They
propose that this contact information
would be on the ‘‘first page’’ of each
cable system’s public file, ‘‘or in the
FCC’s Cable Operations and Licensing
System (COALS) database, for cable
operators that do not have an online
public file.’’ The proposal contemplates
that the contact information must be
kept current by the cable operator, and
should always be ‘‘up-to-date within 60
days of the next carriage election
deadline.’’ In addition, cable operators
would be required to ‘‘generate a
response to the broadcaster’s
notification email so that the
broadcaster knows its election notice
was received,’’ but this response would
‘‘not be considered the cable operator’s
affirmation that the broadcast station
fully satisfied its notice obligation.’’
9. The Joint Proposal suggests updates
to the Commission’s online file and
COALS databases to implement these
proposed changes. Finally, it proposes
the creation of a Commission ‘‘email
address that broadcasters will [carbon
copy] when sending election notices to
cable operators.’’ The Joint Proposal
specifically does not propose to change
the current default election provisions,
and recommends maintaining the status
quo with respect to any situation not
expressly contemplated in the proposal.
10. The Media Bureau issued a
document seeking comment on the Joint
Proposal (84 FR 4039, Feb. 14, 2019).
Specifically, it asked whether, and to
what extent, the Commission should
adopt the recommendations set forth in
the proposal. Commenters generally
support the substance of the Joint
Proposal, although DISH and AT&T
oppose its application to DBS providers
and claim that they have a greater need
for triennial notices than other covered
MVPDs.
11. Discussion. We adopt the Joint
Proposal and expand upon it in two
significant ways. Specifically, although
the Joint Proposal relates to commercial
broadcasters and cable operators, we
also will apply certain elements of the
rules implementing the proposal to NCE
stations. We will also apply the new
rules to DBS providers. Thus, our new
framework will be relevant to all
broadcasters with mandatory carriage
rights, and all MVPDs responsible for
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that carriage, except in those narrow
cases we separately address in the
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register. In the Further Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking, we seek
comment on whether and how to apply
these new rules to broadcast stations
and covered MVPDs that do not have
access to the online public file and/or
COALS. We conclude that it will serve
the public interest and enhance
administrative efficiency to have a
unified approach for carriage election
notices.
12. Almost all commenters support
the Joint Proposal, and we find that it
addresses many of the concerns raised
throughout this proceeding by
broadcasters and MVPDs alike. For
example, ION and the Affiliates and
Networks urge us to ‘‘adopt the proposal
without’’ revision. Meredith states that
the proposal ‘‘reduces the opportunity
for ‘gotcha’ gamesmanship’’ and it
supports ‘‘this common sense, easily
applied, Twenty First Century
proposal.’’ But as noted above and
discussed further below, DISH and
AT&T, the two existing DBS providers,
object to being subject to the Joint
Proposal. In addition, AT&T suggests
that we change the election deadline
and the timeline for MVPD responses.
As emphasized above, in this
proceeding we are focused exclusively
on the way broadcasters communicate
carriage elections and requests. We did
not seek comment on, and we do not
make, any other changes to the carriage
election process or the responsibilities
and rights of the parties involved. The
‘‘unanswered questions’’ identified by
DISH/AT&T, such as the question of
which carriage election controls if a
broadcaster files multiple requests or
sends multiple notices, are not specific
to this proceeding. That is, issues such
as these would be handled just as they
always have been. For example, our
precedent generally holds that in the
case where a broadcaster files multiple
inconsistent carriage election notices,
the first valid election is binding. ACA
also proposed revisions to our rules
‘‘with respect to notices that cable
operators are required to deliver to
broadcast stations.’’ After filing
comments, but before filing ex partes,
the American Cable Association
changed its name to ACA Connects—
America’s Communications Association.
Although they are outside the scope of
this proceeding, the Commission
separately is seeking comment on the
proposals raised by ACA, and related
efforts to ‘‘extend[] the benefits of
electronic delivery’’ to MVPD notices.
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Pine Belt Communications (Pine Belt)
asks us to ‘‘review the extreme increases
in broadcast retransmission rates.’’ This
subject is beyond the scope of this
proceeding and is therefore not
addressed in this Order. Under our new
approach, broadcasters will make their
carriage elections by placing them into
their online public files, and they will
be required to provide a separate
electronic notice of those elections to
relevant MVPDs only when and if they
change their election from the previous
election period. This includes not only
stations that are already being carried on
the MVPD, but also stations announcing
their intent to be carried by new systems
or a new provider under §§ 76.64(k) and
76.66(d)(2) of our rules, or new
broadcast television stations electing
carriage under § 76.64(f)(4) or
§ 76.66(d)(3)(ii). NCE stations that are
currently being carried will place only
a one-time DBS carriage request in their
public file. Thus, only a limited number
of notices will need to be sent to MVPDs
and these will be sent via email instead
of via paper mail. In addition, we
require broadcasters and DBS providers
to upload to their online public files
both an email address and a phone
number for purposes of carriage related
inquiries, and we require cable
operators to upload the same
information in COALS. This contact
information must be uploaded no later
than July 31, 2020 and must be kept upto-date thereafter.
Application of Joint Proposal to
Broadcasters
13. Commercial Television Stations.
We largely adopt the election
notification framework suggested in the
Joint Proposal with respect to
commercial broadcasters. The first
component of our new framework for
commercial broadcast TV stations is that
they will upload a single triennial
carriage election statement to their
online public files, a streamlining of
their current obligation to post and
retain separate election statements for
each MVPD by which they are carried.
This filing will constitute the formal
carriage election of the station that is
required by the statute. Thus, a failure
to timely upload the statement will
result in a default election, as well as a
violation of the broadcast public file
rule. To the extent a commercial
broadcaster makes different elections
with respect to different MVPDs, the
election statement included in the
public file must reflect those
differences. If a station makes a uniform
election, a blanket election statement for
the relevant DMA will suffice. For
example, its statement could be as
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simple as ‘‘[INSERT CALL SIGN] elects
[must-carry/retransmission consent] on
all MVPDs in the [INSERT DMA NAME]
Designated Market Area for the 2021–
2023 carriage cycle.’’ If the station is
making different elections with respect
to different MVPDs, however, its
statement must reflect those differences.
Furthermore, any change notices sent to
MVPDs must be attached to this election
statement. Election statements must be
uploaded to a station’s public file by the
triennial deadline currently specified in
our rules.
14. The second component of our new
approach is that, if a commercial
broadcaster changes its carriage election
for a specific covered MVPD, an election
change notice must be sent to that
MVPD’s carriage election-specific email
address and attached to the station’s
election statement in its public file by
the carriage election deadline. Such
change notices must include, with
respect to each station covered by the
notice: The station’s call sign, the
station’s community of license, the
DMA where the station is located, the
specific change being made in election
status, and an email address and phone
number for carriage-related questions.
This contact information must be the
same carriage-related contact
information posted in the online public
file at the time the election notice is
sent. Consistent with the Joint Proposal,
if the notice is sent to a cable operator,
the broadcaster ‘‘would need to identify
specific cable systems for which a
carriage election applies [only] if the
broadcaster changes its election for
some systems of the cable operator but
not all.’’ In addition, the broadcaster
must carbon copy ElectionNotices@
FCC.gov when sending its carriage
elections to MVPDs. A single notice may
cover all of a broadcaster’s stations, as
well as all of a cable operator’s systems
or all of a DBS provider’s served DMAs.
Copies of a change notice must be
included in the public file of every
station affected by that change notice. In
this regard, the record in this
proceeding suggests that election status
changes are the exception rather than
the rule, since approximately 15% of its
must-carry stations change election
status or ownership and/or network
affiliation from cycle to cycle.
15. If a broadcaster does not receive
a response verifying receipt of its
change notice, or gets an indication that
the message was not delivered, it must
contact the MVPD via the provided
phone number to confirm that the notice
was received or arrange for it to be
redelivered. The verification email from
the MVPD is meant to confirm receipt
of the email in a manner similar to a
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return receipt when sending certified
mail. As under the current rules, it is the
responsibility of the broadcaster who is
sending the notice to ensure that the
notice is timely sent and contains all of
the required, accurate, information. If
the email is timely and properly sent to
the MVPD’s listed address, but the
broadcaster receives no verification and
is unable to reach anyone at the
provided phone number, the notice still
will be considered to have been
properly delivered if it was properly
copied to the Commission’s election
notice mailbox and is timely placed in
the broadcaster’s public file. Similarly,
if an MVPD does not maintain a
required COALS account or public file,
or fails to provide any carriage contact
information at all, a broadcaster’s
election change notice still will be
considered to have been properly
delivered if it is timely sent to the
Commission’s election notice mailbox
and is timely placed in the broadcaster’s
public file.
16. NCE Stations. Although the Joint
Proposal applies only to commercial
broadcast stations, we also apply certain
elements of it to NCE stations, as
suggested by Public Broadcasting.
Because NCE stations, unlike
commercial stations, cannot elect
retransmission consent, we find it
appropriate to apply different notice
requirements to NCE stations to ensure
that they are not unduly burdened. Our
current rules require NCE stations to
send written election notices to DBS
providers every three years, even though
these stations only may request
mandatory carriage, and are not
permitted to ‘‘elect’’ retransmission
consent on any MVPD. Public
Broadcasting states that ‘‘once an NCE–
TV station requests mandatory carriage
from a cable operator, the carriage
request continues, absent a change in
circumstances. Thus, there is no
requirement that NCE–TV stations
‘reelect’ mandatory carriage on cable for
every three-year cycle.’’ The record
provides no justification for modifying
this process. Nor do any commenters
suggest that we do so. We agree with
Public Broadcasting (and NAB) that ‘‘renotify[ing] satellite carriers’’ every three
years of their request for carriage via
‘‘the antiquated method of certified
mail’’ is unnecessary. NAB agrees
‘‘[t]here is no reason to limit the
proposal’s application to only
commercial broadcasters,’’ and that we
‘‘should allow noncommercial
broadcasters to benefit from a
modernized notice regime.’’ As Public
Broadcasting also notes, the current
‘‘outdated’’ notice requirements have
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recently resulted in ‘‘[h]undreds of
thousands of members of the public’’
losing access to some ‘‘noncommercial
educational public television service’’ in
the Minority Television Project case. In
that case, the Media Bureau denied a
must carry complaint because the
broadcaster failed to follow the current
election notice rules. Minority
Television Project, Inc., is the licensee
of independent non-commercial
television station KMTP–TV, San
Francisco, California (KMTP). KMTP
sent a letter to DISH Network L.L.C.
(DISH), electing mandatory carriage on
DISH throughout the San Francisco-San
Jose-Oakland DMA for the 2018–2020
election cycle. The Bureau stated that
the ‘‘letter included all of the
information that is required by [s]ection
76.66(d)(1) of the Commission’s rules,’’
and was timely mailed. It was sent,
however, via the United States Postal
Service’s Priority Express Mail service.
Because § 76.66(d)(1)(ii) of our rules
required that it be sent through the
United States Postal Service as firstclass certified mail, return receipt
requested, the Bureau determined that
KMTP did not comply with the rules
and that KMTP is thus not entitled to
carriage on DISH anywhere in their
market during the current three -year
election cycle.
17. Just like commercial stations
seeking mandatory satellite carriage,
NCE stations are required pursuant to
section 338 of the Act to ‘‘request’’
carriage from DBS providers. DBS
providers must retransmit eligible
stations only ‘‘upon request.’’ DISH/
AT&T assert that ‘‘[t]his is [ ] the reason
why noncommercial educational
stations must file carriage election
letters every election cycle with DBS
providers, but not with cable systems.’’
We disagree, because the statute does
not require that NCEs repeatedly renotify DBS providers about their
carriage request. We find, instead, that
by uploading and retaining a carriage
request in their online public files, an
NCE station will have satisfied the
statutory requirement in section 338(a)
to ‘‘request’’ carriage. Although we
recognize that the SHVIA Order
required NCE broadcasters to make
requests anew every three years, we find
no bar in the statute to permitting NCE
broadcasters to make a single
notification to DBS providers. Although
DISH/AT&T claim that ‘‘there is a real
and practical need’’ for every broadcast
station asserting its must-carry rights
(including NCE stations) to send a
triennial election notice to DBS
providers, we do not agree for the
reasons discussed below. DISH/AT&T
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argue that this need arises because DBS
providers have a more limited ability
than cable operators to gather
information about mandatory carriage
stations and need the triennial notices
in order to find out about stations’
content, ownership, and tower location.
We note, however, that none of this
information is required to be provided
in triennial carriage election notices. As
the Commission found when first
implementing the DBS carriage rules,
however, ‘‘carriers need some measure
of control in configuring their satellite
systems to meet their statutory
obligations,’’ and as a result both
commercial and NCE stations were
required to make carriage requests by
consistent deadlines. This need for
‘‘some measure of control’’ persists.
Therefore, we will require each NCE
station to make a request for DBS
carriage via the placement of a carriage
statement into its public file no later
than the next carriage election deadline
of October 1, 2020. New requests for
carriage by NCE stations must be sent to
an MVPD’s ‘‘carriage election-specific’’
email address and retained in the
station’s public file ‘‘for the duration of
any period to which the request
applies.’’ When the new request is from
an existing NCE station that is not being
carried by an existing MVPD, the NCE
must email a copy of its request by the
next carriage election deadline, and
must be carried by the MVPD beginning
with the next carriage cycle. Each such
statement must list the station’s call
sign, the station’s community of license,
and the DMA where the station is
located and for which is it requesting
carriage. For example, such a request
statement could be as simple as
‘‘[INSERT CALL SIGN] requests carriage
on DBS providers serving the [INSERT
DMA NAME] Designated Market Area.’’
The statement must be retained in the
NCE station’s public file. These
requirements will constitute new
obligations for NCE stations. NCE
stations are required to place requests
for mandatory carriage on a cable
system in their public files, but there is
no triennial carriage election
requirement for NCE stations with
respect to cable systems. However,
because we are relieving NCE stations of
repeated triennial notice obligations,
including the obligation to send carriage
requests via certified mail to DBS
providers, this limited application of the
Joint Proposal framework to these
stations will result in a significant and
meaningful reduction in their overall
regulatory burdens.
18. Broadcaster Contact Information.
All broadcasters subject to our new
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rules must provide an email address and
phone number in their public files for
carriage-related questions no later than
July 31, 2020, approximately 60 days
prior to the 2020 carriage election
deadline, and maintain up-to-date
contact information at all times
thereafter. This email address and
phone number need not be dedicated
exclusively to carriage issues, so long as
the individuals answering them are
prepared to address carriage issues. The
Commission will ensure that this
information appears on the first page of
the station’s online public file. This
proposed requirement has been roundly
endorsed by the broadcasters
themselves, and no commenter opposes
it. As ION compellingly argues,
‘‘creating better, more certain lines of
communication between broadcasters
and cable operators concerning election
issues will inevitably lead to a more
cooperative process.’’ ION PN
Comments at 1. The Affiliates and
Networks are ‘‘particularly pleased’’
with this reciprocal contact information
requirement, cheering the ‘‘spirit of
cooperation’’ it embodies. DISH/AT&T
‘‘estimate that during the three-year
election period they may each contact
about a quarter of their must-carry
stations regarding technical and/or
programming related issues,’’ and it is
‘‘thus essential that DBS providers have
updated information for these stations,’’
provided via the triennial election
notices. A centralized electronic
repository of contact information that is
readily accessible through the
Commission’s online public file should
make it at least as easy, if not easier than
it is today, for an MVPD to find a
specific phone number or email address.
We agree with the suggestion in the
Joint Proposal that both an email
address and a phone number should be
provided for each station, so that there
is an alternative means of
communication if the other one fails.
Broadcasters will be required to respond
as soon as is reasonably possible to
carriage questions from MVPDs.
19. Application of Joint Proposal to
MVPDs. Under our new rules, each
covered MVPD will be required to
provide a designated carriage election
email address, where broadcasters will
send election change notices, and a
phone number for broadcasters to use in
the event of questions as to whether the
MVPD received the station’s election
notice. We anticipate, but do not
mandate, that the email address will be
dedicated exclusively to election change
notices, but the individuals answering
emails and phone calls to the designated
contacts must be prepared to address
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carriage issues. Covered MVPDs will be
required to respond as soon as is
reasonably possible to carriage
questions from broadcasters. Each
covered MVPD must have a single email
address and phone number for carriage
issues, regardless of the number of
systems operated or markets served. All
cable operators will provide this contact
information via COALS, and the
Commission will ensure that the
information provided in COALS is
automatically transferred to the online
files of cable operators that also have an
online public file, while the DBS
providers will input the information
directly into their online public files.
Cable systems with fewer than 1,000
subscribers are not required to maintain
an online public file. As with
broadcasters, the Commission will
ensure that this information appears on
the first page of the MVPD’s online
public file. Covered MVPDs must
provide their contact information by
July 31, 2020, and maintain up-to-date
contact information at all times
thereafter. MVPDs are responsible for
the accuracy and availability of this
contact information, and broadcasters
may rely on its accuracy at any time.
Because covered MVPDs are already
required to provide some contact
information to the public, this
additional carriage contact obligation,
and the requirement to keep this
information up to date, should pose
virtually no burden on covered MVPDs.
20. As suggested in the Joint Proposal,
we also will require covered MVPDs to
verify receipt of an emailed election
change notice, via email sent back to the
originating address, as soon as is
reasonably possible. This will not
constitute a statement that ‘‘the
broadcast station fully satisfied its
notice obligation,’’ but rather simply
will indicate that the notice email was
received. In other words, the
verification email is meant to confirm
receipt of the email in a manner similar
to a return receipt when sending
certified mail. As under the current
rules, it is the responsibility of the
broadcaster who is sending the notice to
ensure that the notice is timely sent and
contains all of the required, accurate,
information. Although we anticipate
that these verification emails will be
generated automatically in most cases,
we require only that they be sent
expeditiously. A timely and correct
notice of a change in election that is
sent to the email address provided by
the MVPD, carbon copied to
ElectionNotices@FCC.gov, and placed in
the station’s public file, must be
honored by the MVPD.
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21. Though the Joint Proposal related
to cable election notices, we are
extending the rules to DBS providers as
well. We are persuaded by NAB that
having different sets of rules for cable
and DBS ‘‘will only confuse the carriage
election process and make it more
difficult for broadcasters to ensure they
have provided proper notice to all
relevant MVPDs.’’ We disagree with
DISH/AT&T that there are compelling
reasons not to apply this updated
process to them. They claim that ‘‘no
party has explained—or even attempted
to explain—how mailing, at most, two
letters once every three years . . . is
burdensome.’’ DISH/AT&T observe that
we ‘‘need not have identical carriage
election’’ notice procedures for DBS and
cable, and that, ‘‘for example, the
carriage election defaults are different.’’
Even granting that mailing these
triennial letters imposes only a minimal
burden on mandatory carriage stations,
the fact that they do not send these
letters to cable operators shows that it
is an unnecessary burden. Indeed, the
different carriage election defaults
emphasized by DISH/AT&T increase the
importance of modernizing the process
for cable and DBS in a consistent way.
As some small independent and
noncommercial stations have learned,
simply ‘‘mailing a letter’’ to a DBS
provider is not, in fact, enough to ensure
carriage under the current rules because
carriage rights have been denied based
on violations of the current mailing
requirement. We believe that adopting a
simplified and uniform election
notification process will decrease the
possibility that broadcasters,
particularly small broadcasters, will fail
to qualify for carriage based on technical
noncompliance with our rules.
22. We also disagree that DBS
providers have a greater need for the
triennial notices than their cable
counterparts and therefore that the
methodology in the Joint Proposal
should not apply to them. DISH/AT&T
note that ‘‘stations may change content,
ownership, and sometimes locations’’
between elections, and claim that unlike
the cable operators that ‘‘have a local or,
at least, a regional presence and are thus
more aware of and familiar with these
station changes . . . DBS providers may
never have any contact with’’ stations
that do not actively negotiate carriage
agreements. According to DISH/AT&T,
they therefore have a greater need for
‘‘triennial election notices [from
mandatory carriage stations specifically]
to update records and determine
carriage obligations for the next three
years,’’ because sometimes the changes
mean the station is ‘‘not always eligible
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for continued carriage.’’ AT&T also
‘‘estimates that approximately 15% of
its must-carry stations change election
status or ownership and/or network
affiliation from cycle to cycle.’’
However, broadcasters are not required
to provide either ‘‘ownership’’ or
‘‘network affiliation’’ information in
carriage election notices. Therefore, the
number of stations that change election
status is only a subset of the 15% of
stations that AT&T references in its
filing. Moreover, because the evidence
in this proceeding shows that only a
minority of stations elect must carry,
there likely would be a very small
number of stations that would change
either to or from must-carry status in
any given election cycle. Information
about content, ownership, and tower
location, however, is not required to be
provided to the DBS providers by
broadcasters in triennial election
notices. If broadcasters are voluntarily
supplying this information to the
providers today, nothing in our new
rules will prohibit their continuing to
do so in the future.
23. We note that our updated election
notification process specifically
addresses a significant concern raised
by DISH earlier in this proceeding. The
NPRM asked whether the Commission
should revise our rules such that
broadcasters would be required to place
election notices in the public file
instead of mailing them. DISH
contended in response that this would
be ‘‘unworkable for MVPDs’’ unless
notices were also sent directly to them,
because MVPDs would have to ‘‘search
hundreds of public files for new
election requests.’’ Our revised rules
ameliorate that potential problem by
ensuring that notice of any new or
changed carriage request is sent via
email directly to any affected MVPD. By
eliminating the ‘‘clutter’’ of hundreds of
election notices that simply reaffirm an
existing election, these rules will aid
DBS providers in recognizing and
focusing on stations whose election
status has changed.
24. Indeed, the fact that election
change notices will be emailed directly
to MVPDs significantly undercuts the
DBS providers’ contention that the new
rules will impose a large administrative
burden. DISH/AT&T note that they each
carry more than 1,300 broadcast stations
nationwide and maintain that it ‘‘is not
feasible for DISH and DIRECTV to
manage that number of carriage election
notifications through emails and phone
calls.’’ Under our new rules, however,
the DBS providers will have to manage
notices from only the small fraction of
stations changing their carriage election
status in any given cycle. Although
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DISH and AT&T have claimed
throughout this proceeding that email
‘‘does not provide the necessary level of
certainty for the carriage election
process,’’ other commenters disagree.
Nexstar notes that given ‘‘the pervasive
use of the internet and email
communications . . . email distribution
is not a big ask or an unreliable delivery
method.’’ Furthermore, although DISH
accurately notes that email messages
can introduce new complexities and
challenges, such as navigating through
spam filters that might prevent notices
from being received, we note that it
alleviates others, like the danger of
physical mail being lost within a
mailroom. Moreover, as the Joint
Proposal suggests, we are requiring that
both broadcasters and MVPDs also post
phone numbers, so there will always be
an alternative means for stations and
MVPDs to contact each other and
resolve carriage issues.
25. Commission Responsibilities. As
suggested in the Joint Proposal, the
Commission must do its part to
implement this new carriage election
process. Specifically, we will update
COALS, providing fields for cable
operators to enter their carriage election
notice email address and phone
numbers. The information entered will
be displayed on the first page of COALS,
and we will also transfer this
information as necessary so that, for
operators with an online public file, the
contact information appears on the front
pages of those public files. We also will
update the online public file so that
broadcasters and DBS providers can
enter this information directly into their
public files, where again it will be
displayed on the first page.
26. In addition, the Commission will
create an ‘‘election notice verification’’
email inbox that broadcasters must
carbon copy when notifying an MVPD
of a changed election, located at
ElectionNotices@FCC.gov. Like the
MVPD email address, this Commission
address will provide a verification
response to assure broadcasters that the
email has been received. In the case of
a dispute between a broadcaster and
MVPD about an election change notice,
the Commission will make available a
copy of any email that was received in
the inbox. DISH/AT&T propose that,
every three years, ‘‘the Commission []
publish a list of all broadcaster carriage
election [change] notices that it
receive[s] via its ElectionNotices@
fcc.gov email inbox.’’ The DBS
providers contend that ‘‘the
Commission publishing this list shortly
after October 1’’ will ‘‘ensure that
MVPDs are aware of all elections the
Commission considers valid.’’ The
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process we adopt today places minimal
burden on DBS providers. We reject
DISH/AT&T’s proposal; it introduces
significant and unnecessary
administrative complexity given that
any relevant emails sent to
ElectionNotices@fcc.gov will be
provided to the parties in the event of
a dispute.
27. Timing. We adopt the Joint
Proposal suggestion that ‘‘this new
framework tak[e] effect in the 2020
election’’ for the 2021–2023 carriage
election cycle. Therefore, broadcasters
must upload their carriage elections into
their public files and email required
notifications to covered MVPDs by
October 1, 2020. This suggestion
received widespread support in the
record. ION and the Affiliates and
Networks urge us to ‘‘adopt the
proposal’’ without change. Meredith
‘‘hopes it can be put into place for the
2020 election.’’ Nexstar endorses the
idea that ‘‘all 2017 carriage elections
would carry forward’’ beginning with
the 2020 election. Though smaller cable
operators say that they should be
exempt from the new rules until 2023,
we conclude that it will be feasible for
the cable operators, including small
operators, to comply in a timely way
with the limited requirements imposed
on covered MVPDs under our new rules.
28. ACA, with Pine Belt’s support,
‘‘opposes the proposal’s timeline as
unrealistic for those small providers that
would rely on COALS to make their
contact information available online to
broadcasters.’’ 1 ACA notes that it is not
opposing the Joint Proposal, ‘‘despite
the fact that doing so means imposing
new requirements on its members,’’ and
observes that it would be
‘‘irresponsible’’ and ‘‘cause significant
confusion’’ to begin educating its
members about a regulatory change that
has not yet been adopted and a
recordkeeping obligation that ‘‘cannot
even be met until the FCC has updated
COALS.’’ ACA ‘‘does not believe that
the Commission will be able to
implement the proposal quickly enough
to give these operators sufficient time to
meet their new obligations.’’ They cite
the need to publish this Report and
Order, seek and receive approval from
the Office of Management and Budget
under the Paperwork Reduction Act,
and make technical updates to
Commission databases, claiming that
these efforts will ‘‘leav[e] small cable
operators with just a few months at most
to update their information in COALS.’’
1 After filing comments, but before filing ex
partes, the American Cable Association changed its
name to ACA Connects—America’s
Communications Association.
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Accordingly, ACA proposes an
exception to the electronic notice aspect
of these rules for small cable operators.
Under ACA’s proposal, if a ‘‘broadcaster
cannot identify an email address for an
operator with a system serving fewer
than 1,000 subscribers in its market, or
if it does not receive an email from such
an operator confirming receipt of its
notice, the broadcaster must send the
notice to that system operator via
certified mail.’’ NAB replies that ‘‘it is
absurd to think that businesses, even
smaller ones, would not be able to add
an email address and phone number to
a single electronic file within a few
months,’’ and that ‘‘nothing prohibits
ACA from starting immediately to alert
its members about upcoming regulatory
changes.’’ It also expresses concern that
the ACA proposal ‘‘would significantly
complicate the 2020 election cycle.’’
ACA, in turn, stated, ‘‘[a]llowing
broadcasters to do what they have been
doing for nearly two decades cannot
possibly be considered complicated.’’
29. Although we recognize ACA’s
concerns, we find that the burdens of
our new rules will be minimal for small
cable operators and that it will not take
any entity a great amount of time to
come into compliance. We note that,
although this is a new obligation, small
cable operators are familiar with
COALS, which they are already required
to keep up-to-date. There should be
ample time for broadcasters and MVPDs
to prepare for the new process and
update their existing database entries
with a single email address and phone
number. We therefore adopt the Joint
Proposal’s suggested timing and plan to
update our databases so that
broadcasters and MVPDs will be able to
add their carriage election contact
information no later than July 31, 2020,
in their public files or COALS, as
appropriate. The Commission will
announce the completion of these
system updates via public notice.
Procedural Matters
30. Paperwork Reduction Act
Analysis. This Order contains
information collection requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104–13. The
requirements will be submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review under Section 3507(d)
of the PRA. OMB, the general public,
and other Federal agencies will be
invited to comment on the information
collection requirements contained in
this proceeding. The Commission will
publish a separate document in the
Federal Register at a later date seeking
these comments. In addition, we note
that, pursuant to the Small Business
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Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public
Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4),
the Commission previously sought
specific comment on how it might
further reduce the information
collection burden for small business
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
We have described impacts that might
affect small businesses, which includes
most businesses with fewer than 25
employees, in the Final Regulatory
Flexibility Act Analysis.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
31. As required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended
(RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
(83 FR 2119, Jan. 16, 2018) in this
proceeding. The Commission sought
written public comments on proposals
in the NPRM, including comment on the
IRFA. The Commission received no
comments on the IRFA. The present
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(FRFA) conforms to the RFA.
32. Need for, and Objectives of, the
Report and Order. In this Report and
Order, we modernize our rules requiring
broadcasters to submit their triennial
carriage election notification via
certified mail. First, to provide notice,
commercial broadcasters will upload an
election notice to their public files every
election cycle, and noncommercial
educational stations must upload to
their public files no later than October
1, 2020 their notice to DBS operators
requesting carriage. Additionally,
commercial broadcasters will now email
MVPDs a carriage election notification
only if they are changing their election
from the previous cycle or if they are
submitting their election for the first
time. Second, MVPDs must respond to
the broadcasters as soon as reasonably
possible, acknowledging receipt of the
notification. Third, both broadcasters
and MVPDs must maintain an up-todate phone number and email address
on the Commission’s public database.
We conclude that these requirements
will relieve burdens and inefficiencies
endured by broadcasters and MVPDs
caused by the cost and time required to
comply with these rules. Through this
proceeding, we continue our efforts to
modernize our regulations and reduce
unnecessary requirements that can
impede competition and innovation in
the media marketplace.
33. Summary of Significant Issues
Raised by Public Comments in Response
to the IRFA. No comments were filed in
direct response to the IRFA.
34. Description and Estimate of the
Number of Small Entities to Which the
Proposed Rules Will Apply. The RFA
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directs agencies to provide a description
of, and where feasible, an estimate of
the number of small entities that may be
affected by the proposed rules, if
adopted. The RFA generally defines the
term ‘‘small entity’’ as having the same
meaning as the terms ‘‘small business,’’
‘‘small organization,’’ and ‘‘small
governmental jurisdiction.’’ In addition,
the term ‘‘small business’’ has the same
meaning as the term ‘‘small business
concern’’ under the Small Business Act.
A small business concern is one which:
(1) Is independently owned and
operated; (2) is not dominant in its field
of operation; and (3) satisfies any
additional criteria established by the
SBA. Below, we provide a description of
such small entities, as well as an
estimate of the number of such small
entities, where feasible.
35. Cable Companies and Systems
(Rate Regulation Standard). The
Commission has developed is own
small business size standards for the
purpose of cable rate regulation. Under
the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small cable
company’’ is one serving 400,000 or
fewer subscribers nationwide. Industry
data indicate that all but nine of the
4,600 cable operators active nationwide
are small under the 400,000 subscriber
size standard. In addition, under the
Commission’s rate regulation rules, a
‘‘small system’’ is a cable system serving
15,000 or fewer subscribers. Of the
4,600 active cable systems nationwide,
we estimate that approximately 3,900
percent have 15,000 or fewer
subscribers, and 700 have more than
15,000 subscribers. Thus, under this
standard as well, we estimate that most
cable systems are small entities.
36. Cable System Operators (Telecom
Act Standard). The Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, also contains
a size standard for small cable system
operators, which is ‘‘a cable operator
that, directly or through an affiliate,
serves in the aggregate fewer than one
percent of all subscribers in the United
States and is not affiliated with any
entity or entities whose gross annual
revenues in the aggregate exceed
$250,000,000.’’ There are approximately
52,403,705 cable video subscribers in
the United States today. Accordingly, an
operator serving fewer than 524,037
subscribers shall be deemed a small
operator if its annual revenues, when
combined with the total annual
revenues of all its affiliates, do not
exceed $250 million in the aggregate.
Based on available data, we find that all
but nine incumbent cable operators are
small entities under this size standard.
We note that the Commission neither
requests nor collects information on
whether cable system operators are
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affiliated with entities whose gross
annual revenues exceed $250 million.
The Commission does receive such
information on a case-by-case basis if a
cable operator appeals a local franchise
authority’s finding that the operator
does not qualify as a small cable
operator pursuant to § 76.901(f) of the
Commission’s rules. Although it seems
certain that some of these cable systems
operators are affiliated with entities
whose gross annual revenues exceed
$250 million, we are unable at this time
to estimate with greater precision the
number of cable system operators that
would qualify as small cable operators
under the definition in the
Communications Act.
37. Open Video Services. Open Video
Service (OVS) systems provide
subscription services. The open video
system framework was established in
1996, and is one of four statutorily
recognized options for the provision of
video programming services by local
exchange carriers. The OVS framework
provides opportunities for the
distribution of video programming other
than through cable systems. Because
OVS operators provide subscription
services, OVS falls within the SBA
small business size standard covering
cable services, which is ‘‘Wired
Telecommunications Carriers.’’ The
SBA has developed a small business
size standard for this category, which is:
All such firms having 1,500 or fewer
employees. To gauge small business
prevalence for the OVS service, the
Commission relies on data currently
available from the U.S. Census for the
year 2012. According to that source,
there were 3,117 firms that in 2012 were
Wired Telecommunications Carriers. Of
these, 3,059 operated with less than
1,000 employees. Based on this data, the
majority of these firms can be
considered small. In addition, we note
that the Commission has certified some
OVS operators, with some now
providing service. Broadband service
providers (‘‘BSPs’’) are currently the
only significant holders of OVS
certifications or local OVS franchises.
The Commission does not have
financial or employment information
regarding the entities authorized to
provide OVS, some of which may not
yet be operational. Thus, at least some
of the OVS operators may qualify as
small entities. The Commission further
notes that it has certified approximately
45 OVS operators to serve 116 areas,
and some of these are currently
providing service. Affiliates of
Residential Communications Network,
Inc. (RCN) received approval to operate
OVS systems in New York City, Boston,
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Washington, DC, and other areas. RCN
has sufficient revenues to assure that
they do not qualify as a small business
entity. Little financial information is
available for the other entities that are
authorized to provide OVS and are not
yet operational. Given that some entities
authorized to provide OVS service have
not yet begun to generate revenues, the
Commission concludes that up to 44
OVS operators (those remaining) might
qualify as small businesses that may be
affected by the rules and policies
adopted herein.
38. Satellite Master Antenna
Television (SMATV) Systems, also
known as Private Cable Operators
(PCOs). SMATV systems or PCOs are
video distribution facilities that use
closed transmission paths without using
any public right-of-way. They acquire
video programming and distribute it via
terrestrial wiring in urban and suburban
multiple dwelling units such as
apartments and condominiums, and
commercial multiple tenant units such
as hotels and office buildings. SMATV
systems or PCOs are now included in
the SBA’s broad economic census
category, ‘‘Wired Telecommunications
Carriers,’’ which was developed for
small wireline firms. Under this
category, the SBA deems a wireline
business to be small if it has 1,500 or
fewer employees. Census data for 2012
indicate that in that year there were
3,117 firms operating businesses as
wired telecommunications carriers. Of
that 3,117, 3,059 operated with 999 or
fewer employees. Based on this data, we
estimate that a majority of operators of
SMATV/PCO companies were small
under the applicable SBA size standard.
39. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)
Service. DBS Service is a nationally
distributed subscription service that
delivers video and audio programming
via satellite to a small parabolic dish
antenna at the subscriber’s location.
DBS is now included in SBA’s
economic census category ‘‘Wired
Telecommunications Carriers.’’ The
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
industry comprises establishments
primarily engaged in operating and/or
providing access to transmission
facilities and infrastructure that they
own and/or lease for the transmission of
voice, data, text, sound, and video using
wired telecommunications networks.
Transmission facilities may be based on
a single technology or combination of
technologies. Establishments in this
industry use the wired
telecommunications network facilities
that they operate to provide a variety of
services, such as wired telephony
services, including VoIP services, wired
(cable) audio and video programming
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distribution; and wired broadband
internet services. By exception,
establishments providing satellite
television distribution services using
facilities and infrastructure that they
operate are included in this industry.
The SBA determines that a wireline
business is small if it has fewer than
1500 employees. Census data for 2012
indicate that 3,117 wireline companies
were operational during that year. Of
that number, 3,083 operated with fewer
than 1,000 employees. Based on that
data, we conclude that the majority of
wireline firms are small under the
applicable standard. However, currently
only two entities provide DBS service,
which requires a great deal of capital for
operation: DIRECTV (owned by AT&T)
and DISH Network. DIRECTV and DISH
Network each report annual revenues
that are in excess of the threshold for a
small business. Accordingly, we must
conclude that internally developed FCC
data are persuasive that in general DBS
service is provided only by large firms.
40. Television Broadcasting. This
Economic Census category ‘‘comprises
establishments primarily engaged in
broadcasting images together with
sound.’’ These establishments operate
television broadcast studios and
facilities for the programming and
transmission of programs to the public.
These establishments also produce or
transmit visual programming to
affiliated broadcast television stations,
which in turn broadcast the programs to
the public on a predetermined schedule.
Programming may originate in their own
studio, from an affiliated network, or
from external sources. The SBA has
created the following small business
size standard for such businesses: Those
having $38.5 million or less in annual
receipts. The 2012 Economic Census
reports that 751 firms in this category
operated in that year. Of this number,
656 had annual receipts of $25 million
or less, 25 had annual receipts between
$25 million and $49,999,999, and 70
had annual receipts of $50 million or
more. Based on this data we therefore
estimate that the majority of commercial
television broadcasters are small entities
under the applicable SBA size standard.
41. The Commission has estimated
the number of licensed commercial
television stations to be 1,384. Of this
total, 1,264 stations had revenues of
$38.5 million or less, according to
Commission staff review of the BIA
Kelsey Inc. Media Access Pro Television
Database (BIA) on February 24, 2017,
and therefore these licensees qualify as
small entities under the SBA definition.
In addition, the Commission has
estimated the number of licensed
noncommercial educational (NCE)
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television stations to be 394. The
Commission, however, does not compile
and otherwise does not have access to
information on the revenue of NCE
stations that would permit it to
determine how many such stations
would qualify as small entities.
42. We note, however, that in
assessing whether a business concern
qualifies as ‘‘small’’ under the above
definition, business (control) affiliations
must be included. Our estimate,
therefore, likely overstates the number
of small entities that might be affected
by our action, because the revenue
figure on which it is based does not
include or aggregate revenues from
affiliated companies. In addition,
another element of the definition of
‘‘small business’’ requires that an entity
not be dominant in its field of operation.
We are unable at this time to define or
quantify the criteria that would
establish whether a specific television
broadcast station is dominant in its field
of operation. Accordingly, the estimate
of small businesses to which rules may
apply does not exclude any television
station from the definition of a small
business on this basis and is therefore
possibly over-inclusive.
43. There are also 417 Class A
stations. Given the nature of these
services, including their limited ability
to cover the same size geographic areas
as full power stations thus restricting
their ability to generate similar levels of
revenue, we will presume that these
licensees qualify as small entities under
the SBA definition. In addition, there
are 1,968 LPTV stations and 3,776 TV
translator stations. Given the nature of
these services as secondary and in some
cases purely a ‘‘fill-in’’ service, we will
presume that all of these entities qualify
as small entities under the above SBA
small business size standard.
44. Description of Projected
Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements. The
Commission anticipates that the rule
changes adopted in this Report and
Order will lead to an overall immediate,
long-term reduction in reporting,
recordkeeping, and other compliance
requirements for all broadcasters and
MVPDs, including small entities.
Specifically, commercial broadcasters
will no longer need to produce and mail
several letters to MVPDs, many of which
are duplicative to ensure that they are
received by the MVPD. Likewise,
noncommercial broadcasters will be
relieved of the burden of mailing their
election notices to DBS providers every
three years and will only have to upload
a one-time notice of their carriage
request to their public files. Although
MVPDs now have the obligation of
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maintaining an up-to-date phone
number and email on Commissionhosted databases, this is a de minimis
burden. Alternatively, this burden is
outweighed by the reduction of letters
and duplicative notices that MVPDs
previously had to review.
45. Steps Taken to Minimize
Significant Economic Impact on Small
Entities and Significant Alternatives
Considered. The RFA requires an
agency to describe any significant
alternatives that it has considered in
reaching its proposed approach, which
may include the following four
alternatives (among others): ‘‘(1) the
establishment of differing compliance or
reporting requirements or timetables
that take into account the resources
available to small entities; (2) the
clarification, consolidation, or
simplification of compliance and
reporting requirements under the rule
for such small entities; (3) the use of
performance, rather than design
standards; and (4) an exemption from
coverage of the rule, or any part thereof,
for small entities.’’
46. Federal Rules that May Duplicate,
Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed
Rule. None.
Ordering Clauses
47. Accordingly, it is ordered that,
pursuant to the authority contained in
sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 325, 338, 614, 615,
and 653 of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i),
154(j), 325, 338, 534, 535, and 573, this
Report and Order is adopted and will
become effective 60 days after
publication in the Federal Register.
48. It is further ordered that parts 25,
73, and 76 of the Commission’s rules are
amended as set forth in the Final Rules
of this Report and Order. These rules
contain new or modified information
collection requirements that require
approval by the Office of Management
and Budget under the Paperwork
Reduction Act and compliance with
these amended rules will be required
after the Commission publishes a
document in the Federal Register
announcing such approval and the
relevant compliance date.
49. It is further ordered that the
Commission’s Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference
Information Center, shall send a copy of
this Report and Order, including the
Initial and Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analyses, to the Chief Counsel for
Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration.
50. It is further ordered that the
Commission shall send a copy of this
Report and Order in a report to be sent
to Congress and the Government
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Accountability Office pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A).
PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST
SERVICES
3. The authority citation for part 73
continues to read as follows:
■
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 25
Communications common carriers,
Communications equipment, Equal
employment opportunity, Radio,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Satellites, Securities.
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303,
307, 309, 310, 334, 336, 339.
4. Amend § 73.3526 by revising
paragraph (e)(15) to read as follows:
■
§ 73.3526 Local public inspection file of
commercial stations.
*
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Federal Communications
Commission amends 47 CFR parts 25,
73, and 76 as follows:
*
*
*
*
(e) * * *
(15) Must-carry or retransmission
consent election. Statements of a
commercial television or Class A
television station’s election with respect
to either must-carry or re-transmission
consent, as defined in §§ 76.64 and
76.1608 of this chapter. These records
shall be retained for the duration of the
three year election period to which the
statement applies. Commercial
television stations shall, no later than
July 31, 2020, provide an up-to-date
email address and phone number for
carriage-related questions and respond
as soon as is reasonably possible to
messages or calls from multichannel
video programming distributors
(MVPDs). Each commercial television
station is responsible for the continuing
accuracy and completeness of the
information furnished.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 5. Amend § 73.3527 by revising
paragraph (e)(12) to read as follows:
PART 25—SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS
§ 73.3527 Local public inspection file of
noncommercial educational stations.
47 CFR Part 73
Civil defense, Communications
equipment, Defense communications,
Education, Equal employment
opportunity, Foreign relations, Mexico,
Political candidates, Radio, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements,
Television.
47 CFR Part 76
Administrative practice and
procedure, Cable television, Equal
employment opportunity, Political
candidates, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Federal Communications Commission.
Katura Jackson,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the
Secretary.
Final Rules
1. The authority citation for part 25
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 301, 302, 303,
307, 309, 310, 319, 332, 605, and 721, unless
otherwise noted.
2. Amend § 25.701 by adding
paragraph (f)(6)(i)(D) to read as follows:
■
§ 25.701 Other DBS Public interest
obligations.
*
*
*
*
*
(f) * * *
(6) * * *
(i) * * *
(D) Each satellite carrier shall, no later
than July 31, 2020, provide an up-todate email address for carriage election
notice submissions and an up-to-date
phone number for carriage-related
questions. Each satellite carrier is
responsible for the continuing accuracy
and completeness of the information
furnished. It must respond to questions
from broadcasters as soon as is
reasonably possible.
*
*
*
*
*
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*
*
*
*
*
(e) * * *
(12) Must-carry requests.
Noncommercial television stations
shall, no later than July 31, 2020,
provide an up-to-date email address and
phone number for carriage-related
questions and respond as soon as is
reasonably possible to messages or calls
from multichannel video programming
distributors (MVPDs). Each
noncommercial television station is
responsible for the continuing accuracy
and completeness of the information
furnished. Any such station requesting
mandatory carriage pursuant to part 76
of this chapter shall place a copy of
such request in its public file and shall
retain both the request and relevant
correspondence for the duration of any
period to which the request applies.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 76—MULTICHANNEL VIDEO
AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE
6. The authority citation for part 76
continues to read as follows:
■
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Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 153, 154,
301, 302, 302a, 303, 303a, 307, 308, 309, 312,
315, 317, 325, 338, 339, 340, 341, 503, 521,
522, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 537, 543, 544,
544a, 545, 548, 549, 552, 554, 556, 558, 560,
561, 571, 572, 573.
7. Amend § 76.64 by revising
paragraph (h) to read as follows:
■
§ 76.64
Retransmission consent.
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*
*
*
*
*
(h)(1) On or before each must-carry/
retransmission consent election
deadline, each television broadcast
station shall place a copy of its election
statement, and copies of any election
change notices applying to the
upcoming carriage cycle, in the station’s
public file.
(2) Each cable operator shall, no later
than July 31, 2020, provide an up-todate email address for carriage election
notice submissions with respect to its
systems and an up-to-date phone
number for carriage-related questions.
Each cable operator is responsible for
the continuing accuracy and
completeness of the information
furnished. It must respond to questions
from broadcasters as soon as is
reasonably possible.
(3) A station shall send a notice of its
election to a cable operator only if
changing its election with respect to one
or more of that operator’s systems. Such
notice shall be sent to the email address
provided by the cable system and
carbon copied to ElectionNotices@
FCC.gov. A notice must include, with
respect to each station referenced in the
notice, the:
(i) Call sign;
(ii) Community of license;
(iii) DMA where the station is located;
(iv) Specific change being made in
election status;
(v) Email address for carriage-related
questions;
(vi) Phone number for carriage-related
questions;
(vii) Name of the appropriate station
contact person; and,
(viii) If the station changes its election
for some systems of the cable operator
but not all, the specific cable systems for
which a carriage election applies.
(4) Cable operators must respond via
email as soon as is reasonably possible,
acknowledging receipt of a television
station’s election notice.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 8. Amend § 76.66 by removing and
reserving paragraph (c)(5) and revising
paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(3)(ii) to read as
follows:
§ 76.66
*
Satellite broadcast signal carriage.
*
*
(d) * * *
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*
*
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(1) Carriage requests. (i) An election
for mandatory carriage made by a
television broadcast station shall be
treated as a request for carriage. For
purposes of this paragraph (d), the term
election request includes an election of
retransmission consent or mandatory
carriage.
(ii) Each satellite carrier shall, no later
than July 31, 2020, provide an up-todate email address for carriage election
notice submissions and an up-to-date
phone number for carriage-related
questions. Each satellite carrier is
responsible for the continuing accuracy
and completeness of the information
furnished. It must respond to questions
from broadcasters as soon as is
reasonably possible.
(iii) A station shall send a notice of its
election to a satellite carrier only if
changing its election with respect to one
or more of the markets served by that
carrier. Such notice shall be sent to the
email address provided by the satellite
carrier and carbon copied to
ElectionNotices@FCC.gov.
(iv) A television station’s written
notification shall include with respect
to each station referenced in the notice,
the:
(A) Call sign;
(B) Community of license;
(C) DMA where the station is located;
(D) Specific change being made in
election status;
(E) Email address for carriage-related
questions;
(F) Phone number for carriage-related
questions; and
(G) Name of the appropriate station
contact person.
(v) A satellite carrier must respond via
email as soon as is reasonably possible,
acknowledging receipt of a television
station’s election notice.
(vi) Within 30 days of receiving a
television station’s carriage request, a
satellite carrier shall notify in writing:
(A) Those local television stations it
will not carry, along with the reasons for
such a decision; and
(B) Those local television stations it
intends to carry.
(vii) A satellite carrier is not required
to carry a television station, for the
duration of the election cycle, if the
station fails to assert its carriage rights
by the deadlines established in this
section.
*
*
*
*
*
(3) * * *
(ii) A new television station shall
make its election request, in writing,
sent to the satellite carrier’s email
address provided by the satellite carrier
and carbon copied to ElectionNotices@
FCC.gov, between 60 days prior to
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commencing broadcasting and 30 days
after commencing broadcasting. This
written notification shall include the
information required by paragraph
(d)(1)(iv) of this section.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2019–18527 Filed 8–29–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[WC Docket Nos. 18–335, 11–39; FCC 19–
73]
Truth in Caller ID Rules
Federal Communications
Commission.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Final rule.
In this document, the Federal
Communications Commission
(Commission) takes the next step in our
multi-pronged approach to putting an
end to unlawful caller ID spoofing.
Specifically, we amend our Truth in
Caller ID rules to implement the
amendments to section 227(e) of the
Communications Act adopted by
Congress last year as part of the RAY
BAUM’S Act. Consistent with these
statutory amendments, we amend our
rules to encompass malicious spoofing
activities directed at consumers in the
United States from actors outside of our
country and reach caller ID spoofing
using alternative voice and text
messaging services. This actions
advance our goal of ending the
malicious caller ID spoofing that causes
billions of dollars of harm to millions of
American consumers each year.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
Effective February 5, 2020.
Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20554.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Annick Banoun, FCC Wireline
Competition Bureau, Competition
Policy Division, 445 12th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20554, at (202) 418–
1521, or annick.banoun@fcc.gov.
This is a
summary of the Commission’s Second
Report and Order, in WC Docket Nos.
18–335 and 11–39, adopted August 1,
2019 and released August 5, 2019. A full
text version of this document may be
obtained at the following internet
address: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/
attachments/FCC-19-73A1.pdf.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45659-45669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18527]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 25, 73, and 76
[MB Docket Nos. 17-317, 17-105; FCC 19-69]
Electronic Delivery of MVPD Communications; Modernization of
Media Regulation Initiative
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
modernizes the carriage election notice rules by permitting
broadcasters to post their carriage elections online and send notices
to covered multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) by email
only when first electing carriage or changing their carriage election
status from must carry to retransmission consent or vice versa.
Additionally, all parties will be required to post their contact
information online on Commission databases.
DATES:
Effective date: This rule is effective October 29, 2019.
Compliance date: Compliance will not be required for Sec. Sec.
25.701, 73.3526, 73.3527, 76.64, and 76.66(d) until the Commission
publishes a document in the Federal Register announcing the compliance
date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyle Elder, [email protected], 202-
418-2120, or Varsha Mangal, [email protected], 202-418-0073.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report
and Order (Order), FCC 19-69, in MB Docket Nos. 17-317, 17-105, adopted
on July 10, 2019, and released on July 11, 2019. The complete text of
this document is available electronically via the search function on
the FCC's Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) web page at
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/ (https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/
). The complete document is available for inspection and copying in the
FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW, Room CY-A257,
Washington, DC 20554 (for hours of operation, see https://www.fcc.gov/general/fcc-reference-information-center). To request materials in
accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] (mail
to: [email protected]) or call the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Synopsis
1. Introduction. In this Report and Order, we modernize the
Commission's carriage election notice rules by permitting broadcasters
to post their carriage elections online, and to send notices to covered
multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) by email only when
changing their carriage election status. This approach will replace our
current regulatory framework, under which a broadcast station typically
must send a paper notice via certified mail to covered MVPDs every
three years, regardless of whether its carriage election changes or
not. For the purposes of this Order, a covered MVPD is a cable
operator, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) provider, or any other MVPD
for which broadcasters currently elect or request carriage and which
uses the online public file and/or Cable Operations and Licensing
System (COALS). To make our new approach workable, we also will require
covered MVPDs to upload email and phone contact information to either
the COALS database or to the online public inspection file. In
addition, in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published
elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, we seek comment on
whether and how the modernized framework described in this Order should
be extended to certain broadcasters and covered MVPDs that do not use
the Commission databases referenced in this Order. Through this
proceeding, the Commission continues its efforts to modernize
regulations and reduce unnecessary requirements that can impede
competition and innovation in the media marketplace.
2. Background. The Commission has long contemplated the potential
for an incubator program to provide new sources of capital and support
to entities that may otherwise lack access to financing or operational
experience. In concept, an incubator program seeks to provide an
established broadcaster with an inducement in the form of an ownership
rule waiver or similar benefit to invest the time, money, and resources
needed to facilitate broadcast station ownership by new and diverse
entrants. An incubator program contemplates that, in exchange for a
defined benefit, an established company could assist a new owner by
providing ``management or technical assistance, loan guarantees, direct
financial assistance through loans or equity investments, training, or
business planning assistance.''
3. Under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), full
power television broadcast stations, and certain low power stations and
translator stations, are entitled to mandatory carriage of their signal
(also known as ``must carry'') on any cable system located within their
local market, also known as their designated market area (DMA). Full
power stations
[[Page 45660]]
also have carriage rights on any DBS provider providing local service
into the market. Each satellite carrier providing secondary
transmissions to subscribers located within the local market of a
television broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that
station shall carry upon request the signals of all other television
broadcast stations located within that local market. This type of
carriage is commonly known as ``carry one, carry all.'' Carry one,
carry all refers to the fact that DBS providers are not required to
carry any local broadcast stations in a market, but must carry all
stations with carriage rights upon request if any local station is
carried (with certain narrow exceptions). The DBS must-carry/
retransmission consent regime otherwise functions in a manner very
similar to the cable regime. But no low power station shall be entitled
to insist on carriage under this section on DBS providers. If a
broadcast station asserts its must-carry rights, the MVPD may not
accept or request any compensation whatsoever from the broadcaster in
exchange for carriage of its signal. Alternatively, commercial
broadcast stations with carriage rights may elect ``retransmission
consent.'' The terms of retransmission consent frequently include,
among other negotiated terms, compensation from the MVPD to the
broadcaster in exchange for the right to carry the station's signal. If
the broadcaster and MVPD cannot reach a retransmission consent
agreement, however, the MVPD is prohibited from carrying the
broadcaster's signal. Thus, commercial broadcasters are presented with
a carriage choice--elect mandatory carriage and forego compensation
while assuring carriage, or elect retransmission consent and forego
assured carriage while retaining the possibility of compensation for
carriage. Noncommercial educational stations (NCEs) are entitled to
must carry, but not to elect retransmission consent. Any requests NCE
stations make, including those made at the outset of their or a cable
system's operation, must be included in their public file ``for the
duration of any period to which the request applies. When the
Commission implemented the statutory provisions establishing the must-
carry/retransmission consent regime, it adopted a requirement that each
commercial television broadcast station provide notice to every cable
operator every three years electing either mandatory carriage or
retransmission consent. Carriage elections by commercial television
stations must be made by October 1 every three years, for the three-
year period beginning the following January. A similar triennial notice
requirement, applying to both commercial and noncommercial television
broadcast stations, later was adopted as part of the carry one, carry
all regime for DBS providers. Failure by a broadcaster to provide
timely notice of its chosen election results in a default election of
must carry with respect to cable operators, but a default of
retransmission consent with respect to DBS providers.
4. Currently, the rules direct each commercial television broadcast
station to send a triennial carriage election notice, via certified
mail, to each cable system or DBS provider serving its market, and each
NCE station to send such notices to DBS providers. As discussed herein,
NCE stations are not required to make triennial cable carriage
elections. In addition, the rules generally also require stations to
place triennial carriage election statements in their online inspection
files, but as explained in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
neither qualified low power television stations nor TV translator
stations are required under our rules to maintain public inspection
files. The notice must state whether the station has elected mandatory
carriage or retransmission consent. The rules applicable to DBS
provider notices also require that the certified mail letter be
``return receipt requested.''
5. In response to the initial Public Notice in the Media
Modernization proceeding, a number of commenters expressed concerns
about, and proposed changes to, the carriage election notification
process. Specifically, ABC Television Affiliates Association, CBS
Television Network Affiliates Association, and FBC Television
Affiliates Association said the current ``requirement burdens
television stations because there is no central repository for the
information necessary'' to send election notices. Many of these
commenters proposed that broadcasters should be able to satisfy their
carriage election requirement by sending an email to an MVPD or simply
uploading the carriage election into their public file. But the
American Cable Association argued that continued reliance on certified
mail is essential and AT&T proposed allowing notice to be sent via any
express mail service, rather than only by certified mail, return
receipt requested. Although some commenters in the Media Modernization
docket proposed even broader changes to the must-carry/retransmission
consent system, in this proceeding we are focused exclusively on the
way broadcasters communicate carriage elections and requests. In
response to these concerns, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) (83 FR 2119, Jan. 16, 2018) and opened this docket in
December 2017. The NPRM sought comment on alternative means of
notifying covered MVPDs about broadcaster carriage elections that would
``satisfy the needs of broadcasters and MVPDs.'' The instant item
adopts changes to Sec. Sec. 76.64(h) and 76.66(d), as proposed in the
NPRM, as well as conforming edits to other related rules. Almost every
commenter responding to the NPRM maintained that there are flaws in the
current election notification system. For example, NAB estimates that
station groups are spending more than $1,000 per station, per carriage
election cycle, on carriage elections, between searching for MVPD
contact information, outside law firm expenses, and certified mail
costs. Despite this time and expense, broadcasters claim that they are
often still not certain whether they have correctly identified and
verified cable operators' contact information, and ``send duplicative
notices to avoid the severe consequences of making a defective
retransmission consent election.'' To avoid the significant legal and
financial consequences that arise from the failure to make timely
elections, and to reduce the costs and resources incurred while making
the election, some commenters suggested ways to modernize the carriage
election process. For example, ION supported ``a simple requirement
that stations post their elections in their online public inspection
files.'' APTS proposed that the ``obligation to re-file satellite
carriage requests every three years for NCE-TVs should be eliminated.''
NCTA proposed that broadcasters submit their carriage election
notification via email to a single point of contact for each operator.
DISH, though favoring the status quo, proposed the creation of a
Commission-hosted website through which broadcasters can elect
carriage, a proposal endorsed by AT&T. AT&T itself proposed to ``permit
broadcasters to use express delivery mail with tracking instead of
certified mail.'' With the exception of the DBS providers, commenters
generally now support the Joint Proposal, which synthesizes various
aspects of this wide array of proposals.
6. On December 7, 2018, the National Association of Broadcasters
(NAB) and NCTA--the internet and Television Association (NCTA) jointly
submitted a proposal setting forth a recommendation of how to modernize
the election
[[Page 45661]]
notification process (Joint Proposal) for commercial broadcasters and
cable operators. Specifically, the Joint Proposal seeks to ``alleviate
the burdens associated with the current notification process'' by
revising our rules as necessary so that
a commercial broadcast TV station would be required to send notice
of its must carry or retransmission consent election to a cable
operator only if the station changed its election status from its
previous election. In those cases, the broadcaster would send its
notice to an email address listed in the cable operator's online
public file or in the FCC's Cable Operations and Licensing System
(COALS) database, for cable operators that do not have an online
public file.
While the proposal's terms are limited to commercial broadcast
stations and cable operators, the types of entities that are members of
NAB and NCTA, NAB ``believes these rules should apply uniformly to all
MVPDs.'' NAB also has stated that ``There is no reason to limit the
proposal's application to only commercial broadcasters, and no one in
the record has suggested doing so. The FCC should allow noncommercial
broadcasters to benefit from a modernized notice regime, including by
no longer requiring them to `elect' mandatory carriage every three
years for satellite providers.'' The Joint Proposal suggests that this
change be in effect for the 2021-2023 carriage election cycle. The next
carriage election deadline is October 1, 2020. Broadcasters would
``continue to include copies of their election statements in their
online public files.''
7. In order to make this process work, NAB and NCTA propose that a
broadcaster email a notice to a cable operator whenever changing its
election with respect to one or more of that operator's systems. Each
such change notice must ``identify [the broadcast] station call
sign(s), the DMA and the specific change being made in election
status,'' and include an email address and phone number ``in case cable
operators have additional questions.'' This email address and phone
number must also be on the ``first page of each of [a broadcaster's]
stations' public files,'' and must be updated if they change. If an
operator has multiple systems within a DMA, the notice must identify
them individually only if the broadcaster ``changes its election for
some systems . . . but not all.'' If a broadcaster is unable to deliver
a ``change of election'' notice to a listed email address due to a
problem with the email address or the operator's ability to receive the
email, and is unable to contact the operator using a provided phone
number, then the notice will still be considered to have been properly
delivered if it is timely placed in the broadcaster's public file and
emailed to the Commission.
8. NAB and NCTA suggest that each cable operator ``provide a
general carriage elections email address, where broadcasters will send
their election notices'' and a phone number to be used only ``in the
event of questions as to whether'' a notice was received. They propose
that this contact information would be on the ``first page'' of each
cable system's public file, ``or in the FCC's Cable Operations and
Licensing System (COALS) database, for cable operators that do not have
an online public file.'' The proposal contemplates that the contact
information must be kept current by the cable operator, and should
always be ``up-to-date within 60 days of the next carriage election
deadline.'' In addition, cable operators would be required to
``generate a response to the broadcaster's notification email so that
the broadcaster knows its election notice was received,'' but this
response would ``not be considered the cable operator's affirmation
that the broadcast station fully satisfied its notice obligation.''
9. The Joint Proposal suggests updates to the Commission's online
file and COALS databases to implement these proposed changes. Finally,
it proposes the creation of a Commission ``email address that
broadcasters will [carbon copy] when sending election notices to cable
operators.'' The Joint Proposal specifically does not propose to change
the current default election provisions, and recommends maintaining the
status quo with respect to any situation not expressly contemplated in
the proposal.
10. The Media Bureau issued a document seeking comment on the Joint
Proposal (84 FR 4039, Feb. 14, 2019). Specifically, it asked whether,
and to what extent, the Commission should adopt the recommendations set
forth in the proposal. Commenters generally support the substance of
the Joint Proposal, although DISH and AT&T oppose its application to
DBS providers and claim that they have a greater need for triennial
notices than other covered MVPDs.
11. Discussion. We adopt the Joint Proposal and expand upon it in
two significant ways. Specifically, although the Joint Proposal relates
to commercial broadcasters and cable operators, we also will apply
certain elements of the rules implementing the proposal to NCE
stations. We will also apply the new rules to DBS providers. Thus, our
new framework will be relevant to all broadcasters with mandatory
carriage rights, and all MVPDs responsible for that carriage, except in
those narrow cases we separately address in the Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register. In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we seek comment
on whether and how to apply these new rules to broadcast stations and
covered MVPDs that do not have access to the online public file and/or
COALS. We conclude that it will serve the public interest and enhance
administrative efficiency to have a unified approach for carriage
election notices.
12. Almost all commenters support the Joint Proposal, and we find
that it addresses many of the concerns raised throughout this
proceeding by broadcasters and MVPDs alike. For example, ION and the
Affiliates and Networks urge us to ``adopt the proposal without''
revision. Meredith states that the proposal ``reduces the opportunity
for `gotcha' gamesmanship'' and it supports ``this common sense, easily
applied, Twenty First Century proposal.'' But as noted above and
discussed further below, DISH and AT&T, the two existing DBS providers,
object to being subject to the Joint Proposal. In addition, AT&T
suggests that we change the election deadline and the timeline for MVPD
responses. As emphasized above, in this proceeding we are focused
exclusively on the way broadcasters communicate carriage elections and
requests. We did not seek comment on, and we do not make, any other
changes to the carriage election process or the responsibilities and
rights of the parties involved. The ``unanswered questions'' identified
by DISH/AT&T, such as the question of which carriage election controls
if a broadcaster files multiple requests or sends multiple notices, are
not specific to this proceeding. That is, issues such as these would be
handled just as they always have been. For example, our precedent
generally holds that in the case where a broadcaster files multiple
inconsistent carriage election notices, the first valid election is
binding. ACA also proposed revisions to our rules ``with respect to
notices that cable operators are required to deliver to broadcast
stations.'' After filing comments, but before filing ex partes, the
American Cable Association changed its name to ACA Connects--America's
Communications Association. Although they are outside the scope of this
proceeding, the Commission separately is seeking comment on the
proposals raised by ACA, and related efforts to ``extend[] the benefits
of electronic delivery'' to MVPD notices.
[[Page 45662]]
Pine Belt Communications (Pine Belt) asks us to ``review the extreme
increases in broadcast retransmission rates.'' This subject is beyond
the scope of this proceeding and is therefore not addressed in this
Order. Under our new approach, broadcasters will make their carriage
elections by placing them into their online public files, and they will
be required to provide a separate electronic notice of those elections
to relevant MVPDs only when and if they change their election from the
previous election period. This includes not only stations that are
already being carried on the MVPD, but also stations announcing their
intent to be carried by new systems or a new provider under Sec. Sec.
76.64(k) and 76.66(d)(2) of our rules, or new broadcast television
stations electing carriage under Sec. 76.64(f)(4) or Sec.
76.66(d)(3)(ii). NCE stations that are currently being carried will
place only a one-time DBS carriage request in their public file. Thus,
only a limited number of notices will need to be sent to MVPDs and
these will be sent via email instead of via paper mail. In addition, we
require broadcasters and DBS providers to upload to their online public
files both an email address and a phone number for purposes of carriage
related inquiries, and we require cable operators to upload the same
information in COALS. This contact information must be uploaded no
later than July 31, 2020 and must be kept up-to-date thereafter.
Application of Joint Proposal to Broadcasters
13. Commercial Television Stations. We largely adopt the election
notification framework suggested in the Joint Proposal with respect to
commercial broadcasters. The first component of our new framework for
commercial broadcast TV stations is that they will upload a single
triennial carriage election statement to their online public files, a
streamlining of their current obligation to post and retain separate
election statements for each MVPD by which they are carried. This
filing will constitute the formal carriage election of the station that
is required by the statute. Thus, a failure to timely upload the
statement will result in a default election, as well as a violation of
the broadcast public file rule. To the extent a commercial broadcaster
makes different elections with respect to different MVPDs, the election
statement included in the public file must reflect those differences.
If a station makes a uniform election, a blanket election statement for
the relevant DMA will suffice. For example, its statement could be as
simple as ``[INSERT CALL SIGN] elects [must-carry/retransmission
consent] on all MVPDs in the [INSERT DMA NAME] Designated Market Area
for the 2021-2023 carriage cycle.'' If the station is making different
elections with respect to different MVPDs, however, its statement must
reflect those differences. Furthermore, any change notices sent to
MVPDs must be attached to this election statement. Election statements
must be uploaded to a station's public file by the triennial deadline
currently specified in our rules.
14. The second component of our new approach is that, if a
commercial broadcaster changes its carriage election for a specific
covered MVPD, an election change notice must be sent to that MVPD's
carriage election-specific email address and attached to the station's
election statement in its public file by the carriage election
deadline. Such change notices must include, with respect to each
station covered by the notice: The station's call sign, the station's
community of license, the DMA where the station is located, the
specific change being made in election status, and an email address and
phone number for carriage-related questions. This contact information
must be the same carriage-related contact information posted in the
online public file at the time the election notice is sent. Consistent
with the Joint Proposal, if the notice is sent to a cable operator, the
broadcaster ``would need to identify specific cable systems for which a
carriage election applies [only] if the broadcaster changes its
election for some systems of the cable operator but not all.'' In
addition, the broadcaster must carbon copy [email protected] when
sending its carriage elections to MVPDs. A single notice may cover all
of a broadcaster's stations, as well as all of a cable operator's
systems or all of a DBS provider's served DMAs. Copies of a change
notice must be included in the public file of every station affected by
that change notice. In this regard, the record in this proceeding
suggests that election status changes are the exception rather than the
rule, since approximately 15% of its must-carry stations change
election status or ownership and/or network affiliation from cycle to
cycle.
15. If a broadcaster does not receive a response verifying receipt
of its change notice, or gets an indication that the message was not
delivered, it must contact the MVPD via the provided phone number to
confirm that the notice was received or arrange for it to be
redelivered. The verification email from the MVPD is meant to confirm
receipt of the email in a manner similar to a return receipt when
sending certified mail. As under the current rules, it is the
responsibility of the broadcaster who is sending the notice to ensure
that the notice is timely sent and contains all of the required,
accurate, information. If the email is timely and properly sent to the
MVPD's listed address, but the broadcaster receives no verification and
is unable to reach anyone at the provided phone number, the notice
still will be considered to have been properly delivered if it was
properly copied to the Commission's election notice mailbox and is
timely placed in the broadcaster's public file. Similarly, if an MVPD
does not maintain a required COALS account or public file, or fails to
provide any carriage contact information at all, a broadcaster's
election change notice still will be considered to have been properly
delivered if it is timely sent to the Commission's election notice
mailbox and is timely placed in the broadcaster's public file.
16. NCE Stations. Although the Joint Proposal applies only to
commercial broadcast stations, we also apply certain elements of it to
NCE stations, as suggested by Public Broadcasting. Because NCE
stations, unlike commercial stations, cannot elect retransmission
consent, we find it appropriate to apply different notice requirements
to NCE stations to ensure that they are not unduly burdened. Our
current rules require NCE stations to send written election notices to
DBS providers every three years, even though these stations only may
request mandatory carriage, and are not permitted to ``elect''
retransmission consent on any MVPD. Public Broadcasting states that
``once an NCE-TV station requests mandatory carriage from a cable
operator, the carriage request continues, absent a change in
circumstances. Thus, there is no requirement that NCE-TV stations
`reelect' mandatory carriage on cable for every three-year cycle.'' The
record provides no justification for modifying this process. Nor do any
commenters suggest that we do so. We agree with Public Broadcasting
(and NAB) that ``re-notify[ing] satellite carriers'' every three years
of their request for carriage via ``the antiquated method of certified
mail'' is unnecessary. NAB agrees ``[t]here is no reason to limit the
proposal's application to only commercial broadcasters,'' and that we
``should allow noncommercial broadcasters to benefit from a modernized
notice regime.'' As Public Broadcasting also notes, the current
``outdated'' notice requirements have
[[Page 45663]]
recently resulted in ``[h]undreds of thousands of members of the
public'' losing access to some ``noncommercial educational public
television service'' in the Minority Television Project case. In that
case, the Media Bureau denied a must carry complaint because the
broadcaster failed to follow the current election notice rules.
Minority Television Project, Inc., is the licensee of independent non-
commercial television station KMTP-TV, San Francisco, California
(KMTP). KMTP sent a letter to DISH Network L.L.C. (DISH), electing
mandatory carriage on DISH throughout the San Francisco-San Jose-
Oakland DMA for the 2018-2020 election cycle. The Bureau stated that
the ``letter included all of the information that is required by
[s]ection 76.66(d)(1) of the Commission's rules,'' and was timely
mailed. It was sent, however, via the United States Postal Service's
Priority Express Mail service. Because Sec. 76.66(d)(1)(ii) of our
rules required that it be sent through the United States Postal Service
as first-class certified mail, return receipt requested, the Bureau
determined that KMTP did not comply with the rules and that KMTP is
thus not entitled to carriage on DISH anywhere in their market during
the current three -year election cycle.
17. Just like commercial stations seeking mandatory satellite
carriage, NCE stations are required pursuant to section 338 of the Act
to ``request'' carriage from DBS providers. DBS providers must
retransmit eligible stations only ``upon request.'' DISH/AT&T assert
that ``[t]his is [ ] the reason why noncommercial educational stations
must file carriage election letters every election cycle with DBS
providers, but not with cable systems.'' We disagree, because the
statute does not require that NCEs repeatedly re-notify DBS providers
about their carriage request. We find, instead, that by uploading and
retaining a carriage request in their online public files, an NCE
station will have satisfied the statutory requirement in section 338(a)
to ``request'' carriage. Although we recognize that the SHVIA Order
required NCE broadcasters to make requests anew every three years, we
find no bar in the statute to permitting NCE broadcasters to make a
single notification to DBS providers. Although DISH/AT&T claim that
``there is a real and practical need'' for every broadcast station
asserting its must-carry rights (including NCE stations) to send a
triennial election notice to DBS providers, we do not agree for the
reasons discussed below. DISH/AT&T argue that this need arises because
DBS providers have a more limited ability than cable operators to
gather information about mandatory carriage stations and need the
triennial notices in order to find out about stations' content,
ownership, and tower location. We note, however, that none of this
information is required to be provided in triennial carriage election
notices. As the Commission found when first implementing the DBS
carriage rules, however, ``carriers need some measure of control in
configuring their satellite systems to meet their statutory
obligations,'' and as a result both commercial and NCE stations were
required to make carriage requests by consistent deadlines. This need
for ``some measure of control'' persists. Therefore, we will require
each NCE station to make a request for DBS carriage via the placement
of a carriage statement into its public file no later than the next
carriage election deadline of October 1, 2020. New requests for
carriage by NCE stations must be sent to an MVPD's ``carriage election-
specific'' email address and retained in the station's public file
``for the duration of any period to which the request applies.'' When
the new request is from an existing NCE station that is not being
carried by an existing MVPD, the NCE must email a copy of its request
by the next carriage election deadline, and must be carried by the MVPD
beginning with the next carriage cycle. Each such statement must list
the station's call sign, the station's community of license, and the
DMA where the station is located and for which is it requesting
carriage. For example, such a request statement could be as simple as
``[INSERT CALL SIGN] requests carriage on DBS providers serving the
[INSERT DMA NAME] Designated Market Area.'' The statement must be
retained in the NCE station's public file. These requirements will
constitute new obligations for NCE stations. NCE stations are required
to place requests for mandatory carriage on a cable system in their
public files, but there is no triennial carriage election requirement
for NCE stations with respect to cable systems. However, because we are
relieving NCE stations of repeated triennial notice obligations,
including the obligation to send carriage requests via certified mail
to DBS providers, this limited application of the Joint Proposal
framework to these stations will result in a significant and meaningful
reduction in their overall regulatory burdens.
18. Broadcaster Contact Information. All broadcasters subject to
our new rules must provide an email address and phone number in their
public files for carriage-related questions no later than July 31,
2020, approximately 60 days prior to the 2020 carriage election
deadline, and maintain up-to-date contact information at all times
thereafter. This email address and phone number need not be dedicated
exclusively to carriage issues, so long as the individuals answering
them are prepared to address carriage issues. The Commission will
ensure that this information appears on the first page of the station's
online public file. This proposed requirement has been roundly endorsed
by the broadcasters themselves, and no commenter opposes it. As ION
compellingly argues, ``creating better, more certain lines of
communication between broadcasters and cable operators concerning
election issues will inevitably lead to a more cooperative process.''
ION PN Comments at 1. The Affiliates and Networks are ``particularly
pleased'' with this reciprocal contact information requirement,
cheering the ``spirit of cooperation'' it embodies. DISH/AT&T
``estimate that during the three-year election period they may each
contact about a quarter of their must-carry stations regarding
technical and/or programming related issues,'' and it is ``thus
essential that DBS providers have updated information for these
stations,'' provided via the triennial election notices. A centralized
electronic repository of contact information that is readily accessible
through the Commission's online public file should make it at least as
easy, if not easier than it is today, for an MVPD to find a specific
phone number or email address. We agree with the suggestion in the
Joint Proposal that both an email address and a phone number should be
provided for each station, so that there is an alternative means of
communication if the other one fails. Broadcasters will be required to
respond as soon as is reasonably possible to carriage questions from
MVPDs.
19. Application of Joint Proposal to MVPDs. Under our new rules,
each covered MVPD will be required to provide a designated carriage
election email address, where broadcasters will send election change
notices, and a phone number for broadcasters to use in the event of
questions as to whether the MVPD received the station's election
notice. We anticipate, but do not mandate, that the email address will
be dedicated exclusively to election change notices, but the
individuals answering emails and phone calls to the designated contacts
must be prepared to address
[[Page 45664]]
carriage issues. Covered MVPDs will be required to respond as soon as
is reasonably possible to carriage questions from broadcasters. Each
covered MVPD must have a single email address and phone number for
carriage issues, regardless of the number of systems operated or
markets served. All cable operators will provide this contact
information via COALS, and the Commission will ensure that the
information provided in COALS is automatically transferred to the
online files of cable operators that also have an online public file,
while the DBS providers will input the information directly into their
online public files. Cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers
are not required to maintain an online public file. As with
broadcasters, the Commission will ensure that this information appears
on the first page of the MVPD's online public file. Covered MVPDs must
provide their contact information by July 31, 2020, and maintain up-to-
date contact information at all times thereafter. MVPDs are responsible
for the accuracy and availability of this contact information, and
broadcasters may rely on its accuracy at any time. Because covered
MVPDs are already required to provide some contact information to the
public, this additional carriage contact obligation, and the
requirement to keep this information up to date, should pose virtually
no burden on covered MVPDs.
20. As suggested in the Joint Proposal, we also will require
covered MVPDs to verify receipt of an emailed election change notice,
via email sent back to the originating address, as soon as is
reasonably possible. This will not constitute a statement that ``the
broadcast station fully satisfied its notice obligation,'' but rather
simply will indicate that the notice email was received. In other
words, the verification email is meant to confirm receipt of the email
in a manner similar to a return receipt when sending certified mail. As
under the current rules, it is the responsibility of the broadcaster
who is sending the notice to ensure that the notice is timely sent and
contains all of the required, accurate, information. Although we
anticipate that these verification emails will be generated
automatically in most cases, we require only that they be sent
expeditiously. A timely and correct notice of a change in election that
is sent to the email address provided by the MVPD, carbon copied to
[email protected], and placed in the station's public file, must
be honored by the MVPD.
21. Though the Joint Proposal related to cable election notices, we
are extending the rules to DBS providers as well. We are persuaded by
NAB that having different sets of rules for cable and DBS ``will only
confuse the carriage election process and make it more difficult for
broadcasters to ensure they have provided proper notice to all relevant
MVPDs.'' We disagree with DISH/AT&T that there are compelling reasons
not to apply this updated process to them. They claim that ``no party
has explained--or even attempted to explain--how mailing, at most, two
letters once every three years . . . is burdensome.'' DISH/AT&T observe
that we ``need not have identical carriage election'' notice procedures
for DBS and cable, and that, ``for example, the carriage election
defaults are different.'' Even granting that mailing these triennial
letters imposes only a minimal burden on mandatory carriage stations,
the fact that they do not send these letters to cable operators shows
that it is an unnecessary burden. Indeed, the different carriage
election defaults emphasized by DISH/AT&T increase the importance of
modernizing the process for cable and DBS in a consistent way. As some
small independent and noncommercial stations have learned, simply
``mailing a letter'' to a DBS provider is not, in fact, enough to
ensure carriage under the current rules because carriage rights have
been denied based on violations of the current mailing requirement. We
believe that adopting a simplified and uniform election notification
process will decrease the possibility that broadcasters, particularly
small broadcasters, will fail to qualify for carriage based on
technical noncompliance with our rules.
22. We also disagree that DBS providers have a greater need for the
triennial notices than their cable counterparts and therefore that the
methodology in the Joint Proposal should not apply to them. DISH/AT&T
note that ``stations may change content, ownership, and sometimes
locations'' between elections, and claim that unlike the cable
operators that ``have a local or, at least, a regional presence and are
thus more aware of and familiar with these station changes . . . DBS
providers may never have any contact with'' stations that do not
actively negotiate carriage agreements. According to DISH/AT&T, they
therefore have a greater need for ``triennial election notices [from
mandatory carriage stations specifically] to update records and
determine carriage obligations for the next three years,'' because
sometimes the changes mean the station is ``not always eligible for
continued carriage.'' AT&T also ``estimates that approximately 15% of
its must-carry stations change election status or ownership and/or
network affiliation from cycle to cycle.'' However, broadcasters are
not required to provide either ``ownership'' or ``network affiliation''
information in carriage election notices. Therefore, the number of
stations that change election status is only a subset of the 15% of
stations that AT&T references in its filing. Moreover, because the
evidence in this proceeding shows that only a minority of stations
elect must carry, there likely would be a very small number of stations
that would change either to or from must-carry status in any given
election cycle. Information about content, ownership, and tower
location, however, is not required to be provided to the DBS providers
by broadcasters in triennial election notices. If broadcasters are
voluntarily supplying this information to the providers today, nothing
in our new rules will prohibit their continuing to do so in the future.
23. We note that our updated election notification process
specifically addresses a significant concern raised by DISH earlier in
this proceeding. The NPRM asked whether the Commission should revise
our rules such that broadcasters would be required to place election
notices in the public file instead of mailing them. DISH contended in
response that this would be ``unworkable for MVPDs'' unless notices
were also sent directly to them, because MVPDs would have to ``search
hundreds of public files for new election requests.'' Our revised rules
ameliorate that potential problem by ensuring that notice of any new or
changed carriage request is sent via email directly to any affected
MVPD. By eliminating the ``clutter'' of hundreds of election notices
that simply reaffirm an existing election, these rules will aid DBS
providers in recognizing and focusing on stations whose election status
has changed.
24. Indeed, the fact that election change notices will be emailed
directly to MVPDs significantly undercuts the DBS providers' contention
that the new rules will impose a large administrative burden. DISH/AT&T
note that they each carry more than 1,300 broadcast stations nationwide
and maintain that it ``is not feasible for DISH and DIRECTV to manage
that number of carriage election notifications through emails and phone
calls.'' Under our new rules, however, the DBS providers will have to
manage notices from only the small fraction of stations changing their
carriage election status in any given cycle. Although
[[Page 45665]]
DISH and AT&T have claimed throughout this proceeding that email ``does
not provide the necessary level of certainty for the carriage election
process,'' other commenters disagree. Nexstar notes that given ``the
pervasive use of the internet and email communications . . . email
distribution is not a big ask or an unreliable delivery method.''
Furthermore, although DISH accurately notes that email messages can
introduce new complexities and challenges, such as navigating through
spam filters that might prevent notices from being received, we note
that it alleviates others, like the danger of physical mail being lost
within a mailroom. Moreover, as the Joint Proposal suggests, we are
requiring that both broadcasters and MVPDs also post phone numbers, so
there will always be an alternative means for stations and MVPDs to
contact each other and resolve carriage issues.
25. Commission Responsibilities. As suggested in the Joint
Proposal, the Commission must do its part to implement this new
carriage election process. Specifically, we will update COALS,
providing fields for cable operators to enter their carriage election
notice email address and phone numbers. The information entered will be
displayed on the first page of COALS, and we will also transfer this
information as necessary so that, for operators with an online public
file, the contact information appears on the front pages of those
public files. We also will update the online public file so that
broadcasters and DBS providers can enter this information directly into
their public files, where again it will be displayed on the first page.
26. In addition, the Commission will create an ``election notice
verification'' email inbox that broadcasters must carbon copy when
notifying an MVPD of a changed election, located at
[email protected]. Like the MVPD email address, this Commission
address will provide a verification response to assure broadcasters
that the email has been received. In the case of a dispute between a
broadcaster and MVPD about an election change notice, the Commission
will make available a copy of any email that was received in the inbox.
DISH/AT&T propose that, every three years, ``the Commission [] publish
a list of all broadcaster carriage election [change] notices that it
receive[s] via its [email protected] email inbox.'' The DBS
providers contend that ``the Commission publishing this list shortly
after October 1'' will ``ensure that MVPDs are aware of all elections
the Commission considers valid.'' The process we adopt today places
minimal burden on DBS providers. We reject DISH/AT&T's proposal; it
introduces significant and unnecessary administrative complexity given
that any relevant emails sent to [email protected] will be
provided to the parties in the event of a dispute.
27. Timing. We adopt the Joint Proposal suggestion that ``this new
framework tak[e] effect in the 2020 election'' for the 2021-2023
carriage election cycle. Therefore, broadcasters must upload their
carriage elections into their public files and email required
notifications to covered MVPDs by October 1, 2020. This suggestion
received widespread support in the record. ION and the Affiliates and
Networks urge us to ``adopt the proposal'' without change. Meredith
``hopes it can be put into place for the 2020 election.'' Nexstar
endorses the idea that ``all 2017 carriage elections would carry
forward'' beginning with the 2020 election. Though smaller cable
operators say that they should be exempt from the new rules until 2023,
we conclude that it will be feasible for the cable operators, including
small operators, to comply in a timely way with the limited
requirements imposed on covered MVPDs under our new rules.
28. ACA, with Pine Belt's support, ``opposes the proposal's
timeline as unrealistic for those small providers that would rely on
COALS to make their contact information available online to
broadcasters.'' \1\ ACA notes that it is not opposing the Joint
Proposal, ``despite the fact that doing so means imposing new
requirements on its members,'' and observes that it would be
``irresponsible'' and ``cause significant confusion'' to begin
educating its members about a regulatory change that has not yet been
adopted and a recordkeeping obligation that ``cannot even be met until
the FCC has updated COALS.'' ACA ``does not believe that the Commission
will be able to implement the proposal quickly enough to give these
operators sufficient time to meet their new obligations.'' They cite
the need to publish this Report and Order, seek and receive approval
from the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction
Act, and make technical updates to Commission databases, claiming that
these efforts will ``leav[e] small cable operators with just a few
months at most to update their information in COALS.'' Accordingly, ACA
proposes an exception to the electronic notice aspect of these rules
for small cable operators. Under ACA's proposal, if a ``broadcaster
cannot identify an email address for an operator with a system serving
fewer than 1,000 subscribers in its market, or if it does not receive
an email from such an operator confirming receipt of its notice, the
broadcaster must send the notice to that system operator via certified
mail.'' NAB replies that ``it is absurd to think that businesses, even
smaller ones, would not be able to add an email address and phone
number to a single electronic file within a few months,'' and that
``nothing prohibits ACA from starting immediately to alert its members
about upcoming regulatory changes.'' It also expresses concern that the
ACA proposal ``would significantly complicate the 2020 election
cycle.'' ACA, in turn, stated, ``[a]llowing broadcasters to do what
they have been doing for nearly two decades cannot possibly be
considered complicated.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ After filing comments, but before filing ex partes, the
American Cable Association changed its name to ACA Connects--
America's Communications Association.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
29. Although we recognize ACA's concerns, we find that the burdens
of our new rules will be minimal for small cable operators and that it
will not take any entity a great amount of time to come into
compliance. We note that, although this is a new obligation, small
cable operators are familiar with COALS, which they are already
required to keep up-to-date. There should be ample time for
broadcasters and MVPDs to prepare for the new process and update their
existing database entries with a single email address and phone number.
We therefore adopt the Joint Proposal's suggested timing and plan to
update our databases so that broadcasters and MVPDs will be able to add
their carriage election contact information no later than July 31,
2020, in their public files or COALS, as appropriate. The Commission
will announce the completion of these system updates via public notice.
Procedural Matters
30. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. This Order contains
information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. The requirements will be
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under
Section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the general public, and other Federal
agencies will be invited to comment on the information collection
requirements contained in this proceeding. The Commission will publish
a separate document in the Federal Register at a later date seeking
these comments. In addition, we note that, pursuant to the Small
Business
[[Page 45666]]
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(4), the Commission previously sought specific comment on how it
might further reduce the information collection burden for small
business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. We have described
impacts that might affect small businesses, which includes most
businesses with fewer than 25 employees, in the Final Regulatory
Flexibility Act Analysis.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
31. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as
amended (RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was
incorporated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) (83 FR 2119,
Jan. 16, 2018) in this proceeding. The Commission sought written public
comments on proposals in the NPRM, including comment on the IRFA. The
Commission received no comments on the IRFA. The present Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.
32. Need for, and Objectives of, the Report and Order. In this
Report and Order, we modernize our rules requiring broadcasters to
submit their triennial carriage election notification via certified
mail. First, to provide notice, commercial broadcasters will upload an
election notice to their public files every election cycle, and
noncommercial educational stations must upload to their public files no
later than October 1, 2020 their notice to DBS operators requesting
carriage. Additionally, commercial broadcasters will now email MVPDs a
carriage election notification only if they are changing their election
from the previous cycle or if they are submitting their election for
the first time. Second, MVPDs must respond to the broadcasters as soon
as reasonably possible, acknowledging receipt of the notification.
Third, both broadcasters and MVPDs must maintain an up-to-date phone
number and email address on the Commission's public database. We
conclude that these requirements will relieve burdens and
inefficiencies endured by broadcasters and MVPDs caused by the cost and
time required to comply with these rules. Through this proceeding, we
continue our efforts to modernize our regulations and reduce
unnecessary requirements that can impede competition and innovation in
the media marketplace.
33. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in
Response to the IRFA. No comments were filed in direct response to the
IRFA.
34. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to
Which the Proposed Rules Will Apply. The RFA directs agencies to
provide a description of, and where feasible, an estimate of the number
of small entities that may be affected by the proposed rules, if
adopted. The RFA generally defines the term ``small entity'' as having
the same meaning as the terms ``small business,'' ``small
organization,'' and ``small governmental jurisdiction.'' In addition,
the term ``small business'' has the same meaning as the term ``small
business concern'' under the Small Business Act. A small business
concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned and operated; (2) is
not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) satisfies any
additional criteria established by the SBA. Below, we provide a
description of such small entities, as well as an estimate of the
number of such small entities, where feasible.
35. Cable Companies and Systems (Rate Regulation Standard). The
Commission has developed is own small business size standards for the
purpose of cable rate regulation. Under the Commission's rules, a
``small cable company'' is one serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers
nationwide. Industry data indicate that all but nine of the 4,600 cable
operators active nationwide are small under the 400,000 subscriber size
standard. In addition, under the Commission's rate regulation rules, a
``small system'' is a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers.
Of the 4,600 active cable systems nationwide, we estimate that
approximately 3,900 percent have 15,000 or fewer subscribers, and 700
have more than 15,000 subscribers. Thus, under this standard as well,
we estimate that most cable systems are small entities.
36. Cable System Operators (Telecom Act Standard). The
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, also contains a size standard
for small cable system operators, which is ``a cable operator that,
directly or through an affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer than
one percent of all subscribers in the United States and is not
affiliated with any entity or entities whose gross annual revenues in
the aggregate exceed $250,000,000.'' There are approximately 52,403,705
cable video subscribers in the United States today. Accordingly, an
operator serving fewer than 524,037 subscribers shall be deemed a small
operator if its annual revenues, when combined with the total annual
revenues of all its affiliates, do not exceed $250 million in the
aggregate. Based on available data, we find that all but nine incumbent
cable operators are small entities under this size standard. We note
that the Commission neither requests nor collects information on
whether cable system operators are affiliated with entities whose gross
annual revenues exceed $250 million. The Commission does receive such
information on a case-by-case basis if a cable operator appeals a local
franchise authority's finding that the operator does not qualify as a
small cable operator pursuant to Sec. 76.901(f) of the Commission's
rules. Although it seems certain that some of these cable systems
operators are affiliated with entities whose gross annual revenues
exceed $250 million, we are unable at this time to estimate with
greater precision the number of cable system operators that would
qualify as small cable operators under the definition in the
Communications Act.
37. Open Video Services. Open Video Service (OVS) systems provide
subscription services. The open video system framework was established
in 1996, and is one of four statutorily recognized options for the
provision of video programming services by local exchange carriers. The
OVS framework provides opportunities for the distribution of video
programming other than through cable systems. Because OVS operators
provide subscription services, OVS falls within the SBA small business
size standard covering cable services, which is ``Wired
Telecommunications Carriers.'' The SBA has developed a small business
size standard for this category, which is: All such firms having 1,500
or fewer employees. To gauge small business prevalence for the OVS
service, the Commission relies on data currently available from the
U.S. Census for the year 2012. According to that source, there were
3,117 firms that in 2012 were Wired Telecommunications Carriers. Of
these, 3,059 operated with less than 1,000 employees. Based on this
data, the majority of these firms can be considered small. In addition,
we note that the Commission has certified some OVS operators, with some
now providing service. Broadband service providers (``BSPs'') are
currently the only significant holders of OVS certifications or local
OVS franchises. The Commission does not have financial or employment
information regarding the entities authorized to provide OVS, some of
which may not yet be operational. Thus, at least some of the OVS
operators may qualify as small entities. The Commission further notes
that it has certified approximately 45 OVS operators to serve 116
areas, and some of these are currently providing service. Affiliates of
Residential Communications Network, Inc. (RCN) received approval to
operate OVS systems in New York City, Boston,
[[Page 45667]]
Washington, DC, and other areas. RCN has sufficient revenues to assure
that they do not qualify as a small business entity. Little financial
information is available for the other entities that are authorized to
provide OVS and are not yet operational. Given that some entities
authorized to provide OVS service have not yet begun to generate
revenues, the Commission concludes that up to 44 OVS operators (those
remaining) might qualify as small businesses that may be affected by
the rules and policies adopted herein.
38. Satellite Master Antenna Television (SMATV) Systems, also known
as Private Cable Operators (PCOs). SMATV systems or PCOs are video
distribution facilities that use closed transmission paths without
using any public right-of-way. They acquire video programming and
distribute it via terrestrial wiring in urban and suburban multiple
dwelling units such as apartments and condominiums, and commercial
multiple tenant units such as hotels and office buildings. SMATV
systems or PCOs are now included in the SBA's broad economic census
category, ``Wired Telecommunications Carriers,'' which was developed
for small wireline firms. Under this category, the SBA deems a wireline
business to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. Census data
for 2012 indicate that in that year there were 3,117 firms operating
businesses as wired telecommunications carriers. Of that 3,117, 3,059
operated with 999 or fewer employees. Based on this data, we estimate
that a majority of operators of SMATV/PCO companies were small under
the applicable SBA size standard.
39. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Service. DBS Service is a
nationally distributed subscription service that delivers video and
audio programming via satellite to a small parabolic dish antenna at
the subscriber's location. DBS is now included in SBA's economic census
category ``Wired Telecommunications Carriers.'' The Wired
Telecommunications Carriers industry comprises establishments primarily
engaged in operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities
and infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of
voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications
networks. Transmission facilities may be based on a single technology
or combination of technologies. Establishments in this industry use the
wired telecommunications network facilities that they operate to
provide a variety of services, such as wired telephony services,
including VoIP services, wired (cable) audio and video programming
distribution; and wired broadband internet services. By exception,
establishments providing satellite television distribution services
using facilities and infrastructure that they operate are included in
this industry. The SBA determines that a wireline business is small if
it has fewer than 1500 employees. Census data for 2012 indicate that
3,117 wireline companies were operational during that year. Of that
number, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000 employees. Based on that
data, we conclude that the majority of wireline firms are small under
the applicable standard. However, currently only two entities provide
DBS service, which requires a great deal of capital for operation:
DIRECTV (owned by AT&T) and DISH Network. DIRECTV and DISH Network each
report annual revenues that are in excess of the threshold for a small
business. Accordingly, we must conclude that internally developed FCC
data are persuasive that in general DBS service is provided only by
large firms.
40. Television Broadcasting. This Economic Census category
``comprises establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting images
together with sound.'' These establishments operate television
broadcast studios and facilities for the programming and transmission
of programs to the public. These establishments also produce or
transmit visual programming to affiliated broadcast television
stations, which in turn broadcast the programs to the public on a
predetermined schedule. Programming may originate in their own studio,
from an affiliated network, or from external sources. The SBA has
created the following small business size standard for such businesses:
Those having $38.5 million or less in annual receipts. The 2012
Economic Census reports that 751 firms in this category operated in
that year. Of this number, 656 had annual receipts of $25 million or
less, 25 had annual receipts between $25 million and $49,999,999, and
70 had annual receipts of $50 million or more. Based on this data we
therefore estimate that the majority of commercial television
broadcasters are small entities under the applicable SBA size standard.
41. The Commission has estimated the number of licensed commercial
television stations to be 1,384. Of this total, 1,264 stations had
revenues of $38.5 million or less, according to Commission staff review
of the BIA Kelsey Inc. Media Access Pro Television Database (BIA) on
February 24, 2017, and therefore these licensees qualify as small
entities under the SBA definition. In addition, the Commission has
estimated the number of licensed noncommercial educational (NCE)
television stations to be 394. The Commission, however, does not
compile and otherwise does not have access to information on the
revenue of NCE stations that would permit it to determine how many such
stations would qualify as small entities.
42. We note, however, that in assessing whether a business concern
qualifies as ``small'' under the above definition, business (control)
affiliations must be included. Our estimate, therefore, likely
overstates the number of small entities that might be affected by our
action, because the revenue figure on which it is based does not
include or aggregate revenues from affiliated companies. In addition,
another element of the definition of ``small business'' requires that
an entity not be dominant in its field of operation. We are unable at
this time to define or quantify the criteria that would establish
whether a specific television broadcast station is dominant in its
field of operation. Accordingly, the estimate of small businesses to
which rules may apply does not exclude any television station from the
definition of a small business on this basis and is therefore possibly
over-inclusive.
43. There are also 417 Class A stations. Given the nature of these
services, including their limited ability to cover the same size
geographic areas as full power stations thus restricting their ability
to generate similar levels of revenue, we will presume that these
licensees qualify as small entities under the SBA definition. In
addition, there are 1,968 LPTV stations and 3,776 TV translator
stations. Given the nature of these services as secondary and in some
cases purely a ``fill-in'' service, we will presume that all of these
entities qualify as small entities under the above SBA small business
size standard.
44. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements. The Commission anticipates that the rule
changes adopted in this Report and Order will lead to an overall
immediate, long-term reduction in reporting, recordkeeping, and other
compliance requirements for all broadcasters and MVPDs, including small
entities. Specifically, commercial broadcasters will no longer need to
produce and mail several letters to MVPDs, many of which are
duplicative to ensure that they are received by the MVPD. Likewise,
noncommercial broadcasters will be relieved of the burden of mailing
their election notices to DBS providers every three years and will only
have to upload a one-time notice of their carriage request to their
public files. Although MVPDs now have the obligation of
[[Page 45668]]
maintaining an up-to-date phone number and email on Commission-hosted
databases, this is a de minimis burden. Alternatively, this burden is
outweighed by the reduction of letters and duplicative notices that
MVPDs previously had to review.
45. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small
Entities and Significant Alternatives Considered. The RFA requires an
agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered
in reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four
alternatives (among others): ``(1) the establishment of differing
compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into
account the resources available to small entities; (2) the
clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance and
reporting requirements under the rule for such small entities; (3) the
use of performance, rather than design standards; and (4) an exemption
from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.''
46. Federal Rules that May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the
Proposed Rule. None.
Ordering Clauses
47. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority
contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 325, 338, 614, 615, and 653 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),
325, 338, 534, 535, and 573, this Report and Order is adopted and will
become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
48. It is further ordered that parts 25, 73, and 76 of the
Commission's rules are amended as set forth in the Final Rules of this
Report and Order. These rules contain new or modified information
collection requirements that require approval by the Office of
Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act and compliance
with these amended rules will be required after the Commission
publishes a document in the Federal Register announcing such approval
and the relevant compliance date.
49. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a
copy of this Report and Order, including the Initial and Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analyses, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration.
50. It is further ordered that the Commission shall send a copy of
this Report and Order in a report to be sent to Congress and the
Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 25
Communications common carriers, Communications equipment, Equal
employment opportunity, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Satellites, Securities.
47 CFR Part 73
Civil defense, Communications equipment, Defense communications,
Education, Equal employment opportunity, Foreign relations, Mexico,
Political candidates, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Television.
47 CFR Part 76
Administrative practice and procedure, Cable television, Equal
employment opportunity, Political candidates, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Federal Communications Commission.
Katura Jackson,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR parts 25, 73, and 76 as
follows:
PART 25--SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 25 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 310, 319,
332, 605, and 721, unless otherwise noted.
0
2. Amend Sec. 25.701 by adding paragraph (f)(6)(i)(D) to read as
follows:
Sec. 25.701 Other DBS Public interest obligations.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(6) * * *
(i) * * *
(D) Each satellite carrier shall, no later than July 31, 2020,
provide an up-to-date email address for carriage election notice
submissions and an up-to-date phone number for carriage-related
questions. Each satellite carrier is responsible for the continuing
accuracy and completeness of the information furnished. It must respond
to questions from broadcasters as soon as is reasonably possible.
* * * * *
PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES
0
3. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 307, 309, 310, 334,
336, 339.
0
4. Amend Sec. 73.3526 by revising paragraph (e)(15) to read as
follows:
Sec. 73.3526 Local public inspection file of commercial stations.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(15) Must-carry or retransmission consent election. Statements of a
commercial television or Class A television station's election with
respect to either must-carry or re-transmission consent, as defined in
Sec. Sec. 76.64 and 76.1608 of this chapter. These records shall be
retained for the duration of the three year election period to which
the statement applies. Commercial television stations shall, no later
than July 31, 2020, provide an up-to-date email address and phone
number for carriage-related questions and respond as soon as is
reasonably possible to messages or calls from multichannel video
programming distributors (MVPDs). Each commercial television station is
responsible for the continuing accuracy and completeness of the
information furnished.
* * * * *
0
5. Amend Sec. 73.3527 by revising paragraph (e)(12) to read as
follows:
Sec. 73.3527 Local public inspection file of noncommercial
educational stations.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(12) Must-carry requests. Noncommercial television stations shall,
no later than July 31, 2020, provide an up-to-date email address and
phone number for carriage-related questions and respond as soon as is
reasonably possible to messages or calls from multichannel video
programming distributors (MVPDs). Each noncommercial television station
is responsible for the continuing accuracy and completeness of the
information furnished. Any such station requesting mandatory carriage
pursuant to part 76 of this chapter shall place a copy of such request
in its public file and shall retain both the request and relevant
correspondence for the duration of any period to which the request
applies.
* * * * *
PART 76--MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE
0
6. The authority citation for part 76 continues to read as follows:
[[Page 45669]]
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 153, 154, 301, 302, 302a, 303,
303a, 307, 308, 309, 312, 315, 317, 325, 338, 339, 340, 341, 503,
521, 522, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 537, 543, 544, 544a, 545, 548,
549, 552, 554, 556, 558, 560, 561, 571, 572, 573.
0
7. Amend Sec. 76.64 by revising paragraph (h) to read as follows:
Sec. 76.64 Retransmission consent.
* * * * *
(h)(1) On or before each must-carry/retransmission consent election
deadline, each television broadcast station shall place a copy of its
election statement, and copies of any election change notices applying
to the upcoming carriage cycle, in the station's public file.
(2) Each cable operator shall, no later than July 31, 2020, provide
an up-to-date email address for carriage election notice submissions
with respect to its systems and an up-to-date phone number for
carriage-related questions. Each cable operator is responsible for the
continuing accuracy and completeness of the information furnished. It
must respond to questions from broadcasters as soon as is reasonably
possible.
(3) A station shall send a notice of its election to a cable
operator only if changing its election with respect to one or more of
that operator's systems. Such notice shall be sent to the email address
provided by the cable system and carbon copied to
[email protected]. A notice must include, with respect to each
station referenced in the notice, the:
(i) Call sign;
(ii) Community of license;
(iii) DMA where the station is located;
(iv) Specific change being made in election status;
(v) Email address for carriage-related questions;
(vi) Phone number for carriage-related questions;
(vii) Name of the appropriate station contact person; and,
(viii) If the station changes its election for some systems of the
cable operator but not all, the specific cable systems for which a
carriage election applies.
(4) Cable operators must respond via email as soon as is reasonably
possible, acknowledging receipt of a television station's election
notice.
* * * * *
0
8. Amend Sec. 76.66 by removing and reserving paragraph (c)(5) and
revising paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(3)(ii) to read as follows:
Sec. 76.66 Satellite broadcast signal carriage.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(1) Carriage requests. (i) An election for mandatory carriage made
by a television broadcast station shall be treated as a request for
carriage. For purposes of this paragraph (d), the term election request
includes an election of retransmission consent or mandatory carriage.
(ii) Each satellite carrier shall, no later than July 31, 2020,
provide an up-to-date email address for carriage election notice
submissions and an up-to-date phone number for carriage-related
questions. Each satellite carrier is responsible for the continuing
accuracy and completeness of the information furnished. It must respond
to questions from broadcasters as soon as is reasonably possible.
(iii) A station shall send a notice of its election to a satellite
carrier only if changing its election with respect to one or more of
the markets served by that carrier. Such notice shall be sent to the
email address provided by the satellite carrier and carbon copied to
[email protected].
(iv) A television station's written notification shall include with
respect to each station referenced in the notice, the:
(A) Call sign;
(B) Community of license;
(C) DMA where the station is located;
(D) Specific change being made in election status;
(E) Email address for carriage-related questions;
(F) Phone number for carriage-related questions; and
(G) Name of the appropriate station contact person.
(v) A satellite carrier must respond via email as soon as is
reasonably possible, acknowledging receipt of a television station's
election notice.
(vi) Within 30 days of receiving a television station's carriage
request, a satellite carrier shall notify in writing:
(A) Those local television stations it will not carry, along with
the reasons for such a decision; and
(B) Those local television stations it intends to carry.
(vii) A satellite carrier is not required to carry a television
station, for the duration of the election cycle, if the station fails
to assert its carriage rights by the deadlines established in this
section.
* * * * *
(3) * * *
(ii) A new television station shall make its election request, in
writing, sent to the satellite carrier's email address provided by the
satellite carrier and carbon copied to [email protected], between
60 days prior to commencing broadcasting and 30 days after commencing
broadcasting. This written notification shall include the information
required by paragraph (d)(1)(iv) of this section.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2019-18527 Filed 8-29-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P