**STATEMENT OF**

**CHAIRMAN KEVIN J. MARTIN**

**In the Matter of *Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals:
Amendment to Part 76 of the Commission's Rules***

I am pleased with the action that the Commission takes today. With the
adoption of this Order, cable operators will be obligated to ensure that
all of their customers will be able to watch all broadcast stations
after the digital transition.

This item, at its core, is about the consumer. It is about ensuring that
all Americans with cable -- regardless of whether they are analog or
digital subscribers -- are able to watch the same broadcast stations the
day after the digital transition that they were watching the day before
the transition. If the cable companies had their way, you, your mother
and father, or your next door neighbor could go to sleep one night after
watching their favorite channel and wake up the next morning to a dark
fuzzy screen. This is because the cable operators believe that it is
appropriate for them to choose which stations analog cable customers
should be able watch. It is not acceptable as a policy matter or as a
legal matter. The 1992 Cable Act is very clear. Cable operators must
ensure that all local broadcast stations carried pursuant to this Act
are "viewable" by all cable subscribers. Thus, they may not simply cut
off the signals of these must-carry broadcast stations after the digital
transition. The Order we adopt today prevents the cable operators from
doing just that.

To put this in perspective, according to Commission staff calculations,
there are approximately 15 million households with more than 30 million
television sets that rely on over-the-air signals - that is, do not
subscribe to any cable or satellite service. But there are over 40
million homes with 120 million analog cable television sets. Thus, in
the absence of the action we took today, some broadcast stations would
have become unwatchable on these 120 million television sets. And,
millions of consumers will be disenfranchised.

Importantly, in the item we adopt today, we do not dictate how cable
operators must fulfill their statutory requirement to make all broadcast
signals viewable to its subscribers. Rather, we give them a choice.
Accordingly, the Commission is not forcing consumers to purchase or
lease a set top box to continue watching their favorite channels. This
decision lies in the hands of the cable company. They can avoid the need
for new boxes by choosing to downconvert the digital signal into analog
at their headend. This downconversion would permit analog cable
subscribers to continue watching broadcast television just as they do
today without disruption. Of course, to the extent that a cable system
is all-digital, like DBS systems are, all consumers are given a box that
allows them to watch all of the broadcast stations.

Significantly, the statute's viewability requirements do not contain an
exception for small cable operators. And, there was not much in our
record to justify carving out some subset of such operators from the
rules we adopt today. Although I believe that the benefits of the
digital transition should be shared by all Americans, I also have
sympathy for the constraints of very small cable systems. For this
reason, we will allow these providers to file waivers to the extent they
can show that they do not have the capacity to carry another digital
channel. And, we have sought comment in a FNPRM as to whether we should
adopt some different rules for a small subset of cable operators. I look
forward to completing this proceeding in the next six months - well in
advance of the February 2009 transition - so that these operators have
sufficient notice of their obligations.

Today's item guarantees that consumers will be able to watch all
broadcast stations at least until February 2012. In advance of this
date, the Commission will review whether these rules continue to be
necessary to protect consumers. Some of the factors that I believe are
important for the Commission to consider in its review are the extent to
which consumers still rely on analog cable service, the state of the
cable systems' conversion to digital, how customers have fared under the
digital transition (including any added costs or service disruption they
may experience), and the extent to which additional resources have been
allocated by Congress to help consumers manage the transition.

The American consumer is, and continues to be, our highest priority.
Without the proper policies in place, some viewers may be left in the
dark or be unable to realize the full opportunities offered by digital
technology. This is just one of numerous policy proceedings that the
Commission has undertaken to facilitate the nation's transition from
analog to digital television. During the next 17 months, we plan to
issue additional orders that will adjust our rules and policies in
anticipation of the transition on February 17, 2009. We are committed to
taking whatever actions are necessary to minimize the potential burden
the digital transition could impose on consumers and maximize their
ability to benefit from it.