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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  1455 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of: 
 Corridor  Television,  L.  L.  P. 
 v. 
 Charter  Communications 
 Request  for  Mandatory  Carriage  of 
 Television  Station  KBEJ(  TV), 
 Fredericksburg,  Texas 


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 CSR-  5667-  M 


 MEMORANDUM  OPINION  AND  ORDER 
 Adopted:  June  15,  2001  Released:  June  20,  2001 
 By  the  Chief,  Consumer  Protection  and  Competition  Division,  Cable  Services  Bureau: 
 I.  INTRODUCTION 
 1.  Corridor  Television,  L.  L.  P.  (  Corridor),  licensee  of  television  broadcast  station 
 KBEJ(  TV),  Fredericksburg,  Texas  (  KBEJ  or  the  Station)  filed  the  above-  captioned  must  carry 
 complaint  against  Charter  Communications  (  Charter),  for  failing  to  carry  KBEJ  on  its  cable  system 
 serving  Johnson  City,  Spicewood  Beach,  Mustang  Ridge,  Manor  and  Garfield,  Texas  and  the  surrounding 
 areas  (the  cable  communities).  No  opposition  to  the  complaint  was  received. 


 II.  BACKGROUND 
 2.  Pursuant  to  Section  614  of  the  Communications  Act  and  implementing  rules  adopted  by 
 the  Commission  in  Implementation  of  the  Cable  Television  Consumer  Protection  and  Competition  Act  of 
 1992,  Broadcast  Signal  Carriage  Issues  (  Must  Carry  Order),  commercial  television  broadcast  stations 
 are  entitled  to  assert  mandatory  carriage  rights  on  cable  systems  located  within  the  stations  market.  1  A 
 stations  market  for  this  purpose  is  its  designated  market  area,  or  DMA,  as  defined  by  Nielsen  Media 
 Research.  2  A  DMA  is  a  geographic  market  designation  that  defines  each  television  market  exclusive  of 
 others,  based  on  measured  viewing  patterns. 


 1  8  FCC  Rcd  2965,  2976-  2977  (1993). 
 2  Section  614(  h)(  1)(  C)  of  the  Communications  Act,  as  amended  by  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996, 
 provides  that  a  stations  market  shall  be  determined  by  the  Commission  by  regulation  or  order  using,  where 
 available,  commercial  publications  which  delineate  television  markets  based  on  viewing  patterns.  See  47  U.  S.  C.   
 534(  h)(  1)(  C).  Section  76.  55(  e)  requires  that  a  commercial  broadcast  television  stations  market  be  defined  by 
 (continued) 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  1455 
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 3.  Pursuant  to  the  Commissions  must  carry  rules,  cable  operators  have  the  burden  of 
 showing  that  a  commercial  station  that  is  located  in  the  same  television  market  is  not  entitled  to  carriage.  3 
 One  method  of  doing  so  is  for  a  cable  operator  to  establish  that  a  subject  television  signal,  which  would 
 otherwise  be  entitled  to  carriage,  does  not  provide  a  good  quality  signal  to  a  cable  systems  principal 
 headend.  4  Should  a  station  fail  to  provide  the  required  over-  the-  air  signal  quality  to  a  cable  systems 
 principal  headend,  it  still  may  obtain  carriage  rights  because  under  the  Commissions  rules  a  television 
 station  may  provide  a  cable  operator,  at  the  stations  expense,  with  specialized  equipment  to  improve  the 
 stations  signal  to  an  acceptable  quality  at  a  cable  systems  principal  headend.  5 


 III.  DISCUSSION 
 4.  In  support  of  its  complaint,  KBEJ  states  that  it  is  licensed  to  Fredericksburg,  Texas, 
 which  is  in  the  Austin,  Texas  DMA.  It  states  further  that  Charter  operates  a  cable  television  system, 
 which  is  also  in  the  Austin  DMA.  KBEJ  contends  that  because  it  is  located  within  the  same  DMA  as  the 
 Charter  cable  system,  it  is  entitled  to  mandatory  carriage  on  that  system.  KBEJ  asserts  that  it  formally 
 requested  Charter  to  commence  carriage  of  its  signal  on  channel  2  of  the  cable  system  at  issue.  6  KBEJ 
 claims  that  Charter  did  not  respond  to  its  request  for  mandatory  carriage  in  violation  of  Section 
 76.61(  a)(  2)  of  the  Commissions  rules,  which  requires  cable  operators  to  respond  in  writing  to  requests 
 for  carriage  within  30  days  of  receipt  of  such  requests.  7  According  to  KBEJ,  it  is  committed  to  acquire 
 and  install  any  improvements  and  equipment  needed  to  provide  Charter  with  a  good  quality  signal.  8 
 KBEJ  requests  that  we  order  Charter  to  commence  carriage  of  its  signal  on  channel  2  of  the  cable  system 
 serving  the  cable  communities. 


 5.  Section  76.55(  e)  of  the  Commissions  rules  provides  that  commercial  television 
 broadcast  stations,  such  as  KBEJ,  are  entitled  to  carriage  on  cable  systems  located  in  the  same  DMA.  9 
 Cable  operators  have  the  burden  of  showing  that  a  commercial  station  that  is  located  in  the  same 
 television  market  is  not  entitled  to  carriage.  10  We  find  that  Charter  has  failed  to  meet  its  burden.  Charter 
 did  not  did  respond  within  30  days  to  KBEJs  letter  requesting  carriage  as  required  by  the  Commissions 
 rules  nor  did  it  file  an  opposition  to  KBEJs  must  carry  complaint.  11  KBEJ  has  committed  to  acquire  and 
 install,  at  its  own  expense,  any  and  all  necessary  improvements  and  equipment  needed  to  provide  Charter 
 with  a  good  quality  signal.  KBEJ,  by  committing  to  provide  any  necessary  equipment  has  satisfied  its 


 (  continued  from  previous  page) 
 Nielsen  Media  Researchs  DMAs. 


 3  See  Must  Carry  Order,  8  FCC  Rcd  at  2990. 


 4  47  C.  F.  R.    76.  55(  c)(  3). 
 5  Must  Carry  Order,  8  FCC  Rcd  at  2991. 
 6  Complaint  at  1  and  Exhibit  A. 
 7  Complaint  at  1.  See  47  C.  F.  R.    76.  61(  a)(  2). 
 8  Complaint  at  Exhibit  A. 
 9  47  C.  F.  R.    76.  55(  e). 
 10  See  Must  Carry  Order,  8  FCC  Rcd  at  2990. 
 11  47  C.  F.  R.    76.  55(  c)(  3). 
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 obligation  to  bear  the  costs  associated  with  delivering  a  good  quality  signal.  12  Thus,  we  find  that  KBEJ  is 
 entitled  to  mandatory  carriage  on  Charter  cable  system  at  issue. 


 6.  With  respect  to  KBEJs  channel  positioning  request,  we  find  that  it  has  properly 
 requested  carriage  on  channel  2  of  Charters  system,  the  same  channel  number  on  which  it  is  broadcast 
 over-  the-  air.  Pursuant  to  the  Commissions  rules,  cable  operators  must  comply  with  the  channel 
 positioning  requirements  absent  a  compelling  technical  reason.  13  Based  on  the  foregoing,  we  grant 
 KBEJs  complaint. 


 IV.  ORDERING  CLAUSES 
 7.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  Section  614  of  the  Communications  Act  of 
 1934,  as  amended  (47  U.  S.  C.    534),  that  the  must  carry  complaint  filed  by  Corridor  Television,  L.  L.  P., 
 licensee  of  television  broadcast  station  KBEJ,  Fredericksburg,  Texas  against  Charter  Communications  IS 
 GRANTED. 


 8.  IT  IS  FURTHER  ORDERED  that  Charter  SHALL  COMMENCE  CARRIAGE  of  the 
 KBEJ  signal  on  Channel  2  of  its  cable  system  serving  Johnson  City,  Spicewood  Beach,  Mustang  Ridge, 
 Manor  and  Garfield,  Texas  and  surrounding  areas,  within  sixty  (60)  days  from  the  date  of  the  release  of 
 this  Order. 


 9.  This  action  is  taken  pursuant  to  authority  delegated  by  Section  0.321  if  the  Commissions 
 rules.  14 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Deborah  E.  Klein,  Chief 
 Consumer  Protection  and  Competition  Division 
 Cable  Services  Bureau 


 12  See  Must  Carry  Order,  8  FCC  Rcd  at  2991.  See,  e.  g.  WMPF,  Inc.  11  FCC  Rcd  17264  (CSB  1996);  KSLS, 
 Inc.,  11  FCC  Rcd  12718  (CSB  1996).  See  also  47  U.  S.  C.    534(  h)(  1)(  B)(  iii). 
 13  47  C.  F.  R.    76.  57;  see  Must  Carry  Order  at  2988. 


 14  47  C.  F.  R.    0.321. 
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