FCC Denies Must Carry Complaint Filed by Low-Power Station

On March 16, 2017, the FCC released an Order denying a must carry complaint filed by a low-power television (“LPTV”) station in Cleveland, Mississippi against cable provider NewWave Communications.  The FCC denied the complaint after finding that the low-power station failed to establish that there is no full-power station licensed to a community within the County served by NewWave’s system. 

Under the Cable Act and FCC rules, low-power stations have limited must carry rights.  To qualify for must carry, an LPTV must meet all of the following six requirements:

• Operational standards.  The station must meet minimum operational standards applicable to full-power stations and a range of public interest programming obligations.
• Geographic proximity.  The station can be no more than 35 miles from the cable system's principal headend.
• No full-power station.  There can be no full-power broadcast station licensed to any community in the county served by the cable system.
• Population threshold.  Both the community of license and the franchise area must be located outside the largest 160 metropolitan statistical areas.
• Local programming required.  The station must provide local news or information not provided by full-power stations carried on the system.
• Good quality signal.  The station must meet the same signal strength requirements as a full power commercial station.  Unlike a full-power station, a low-power station cannot cure a signal strength deficiency solely through a commitment to provide specialized equipment.

Cinnamon Mueller represented NewWave in this proceeding.

If you have any questions about low-power stations’ must carry rights, or must carry rights in general, please contact Scott Friedman at (312) 580-8557 or sfriedman@cinnamonmueller.com.

Public File Reminder: 1^st Quarter Children’s Advertising Certifications Must be Placed in Public File by April 10, 2017

FCC rules prohibit cable operators from airing more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during children’s programming on weekends, or more than 12 minutes on weekdays, and require cable operators to maintain records sufficient to verify their compliance with these advertising restrictions. 

Though the FCC permits cable operators to meet this recordkeeping requirements in various ways, almost all operators rely on certifications from children’s channels that the channel meets FCC rules on children’s advertising.  Since 1991, the FCC has clarified that such records must be placed in the cable system’s public file no later than the tenth day of the quarter following the quarter in which the covered programming aired and must be maintained for a period sufficient to cover the limitations period specified in the Communications Act (i.e., one year). 

Note:  Cable operators are not required to maintain records covering programs aired on a broadcast television channel which the cable operator passively carries, or to access channels over which the cable operator may not exercise editorial control.

Accordingly, cable systems with 1,000 or more subscribers must upload their 1^st quarter 2017 KidVid certifications to their public inspection files online in the FCC-hosted online public database no later than April 10, 2017.  Cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers are exempt from the requirement to maintain records demonstrating compliance with the children’s advertising limits. 

If you have questions about the cable public file rules or the requirement to post them online, please contact Scott Friedman at (312) 372-3930 or sfriedman@cinnamonmueller.com.

CM Partner Barbara Esbin Honored as CableFax Top Lawyer

On March 22, 2017, CM’s own Barbara Esbin was presented as one of CableFax’s top 2017 lawyers at a dinner at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.  We have included a picture below of Barbara accepting her award.

ACA’s Sr. VP of Government Affairs, Ross Lieberman, was also honored as a top lawyer.  Congratulations Barbara and Ross!