[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13724-13725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6291]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to Office of 
Management and Budget for Review

March 9, 1995.
    The Federal Communications Commission has submitted the following 
information collection requirement to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3507).
    Copies of this submission may be purchased from the Commission's 
copy contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc., 2100 M 
Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington, DC 20037, (202) 857-3800. For 
further information on this submission contact Judy Boley, Federal 
Communications Commission, (202) 418-0214. Persons wishing to comment 
on this information collection should contact Timothy Fain, Office of 
Management and Budget, Room 10236 NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 
395-3561.

    Please note: The Commission has requested emergency OMB review 
of this item by March 17, 1995, under the provisions of 5 CFR 
1320.18.

OMB Number: None
Title: Survey Governing Effects of the ``Must Carry'' Requirements
Action: New collection
Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit
Frequency of Response: One time collection
Estimated Annual Burden: 2,000 responses; .25 hours average burden per 
response; 500 hours total annual burden
Needs and Uses: In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice, the 
Federal Communications Commission seeks information from cable 
television operators in connection with pending litigation involving 
cable television ``must carry'' requirements (Turner Broadcasting 
System v. FCC. Civil Action No. 92-2247 and consolidated cases 
D.D.C.)). The survey asks cable operators to indicate the number of 
broadcast stations carried on their systems under ``must carry'' 
requirements or ``retransmission consent'' so that the courts are fully 
informed of the ``must carry'' requirements' impact.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.

Survey Concerning Effects of the ``Must-Carry'' Requirements

March ______, 1995.
    In Turner Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC, 114 S. Ct 2445 (1994), the 
United States Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the 
``Must-Carry'' requirements, the provisions of the Cable Television 
Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 which require cable 
operators to carry local television broadcast stations on their cable 
systems. 47 U.S.C. Secs. 534, 535. The Court did not rule on the 
constitutionality of Must-Carry, but returned the case to the lower 
court for additional inquiry into a number of issues. These include the 
impact of the Must-Carry requirements on cable system operators. The 
Court described the extent to which Must-Carry requires cable operators 
to make changes in their programming selections as one of several 
questions ``critical'' to determining whether the Must-Carry 
requirements are constitutional.
    Accordingly, the FCC, in cooperation with the United States 
Department of Justice, which is defending the constitutionality of the 
Must-Carry requirements in the Turner Broadcasting case, seeks your 
assistance in responding to the enclosed survey questionnaire, so that 
the Department can more fully inform the courts of Must-Carry's impact.

Notice to Individuals Required by the Privacy Act of 1974 and the 
Paperwork Reduction Act

    The request for information in this survey is authorized by the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The Commission will use the 
information as described above. The Department of Justice will also 
use the information. All information provided in response to this 
survey will be available for public inspection. A response is 
requested, but your response to the survey is voluntary.
    Public reporting burden for this information is estimated to 
average 15 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data, gathering and maintaining the 
data needed, and completing and reviewing the information. Send 
comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
request for information, including suggestions for reducing the 
burden, to the Federal Communications Commission, Records Management 
Division, Washington, D.C. 20554, and to the Office of Management 
and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3060-______), Washington, 
D.C. 20503.
    This notice is required by the Privacy Act of 1974, P.L. 93-579, 
Dec. 31, 1975, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 522a(e)(3) and the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1980, P.L. 96-511, Dec. 11, 1980, 47 U.S.C. Sec. 3507.

    Please complete and return the enclosed survey form by mail or fax 
by April 7, 1995. Thank you for your cooperation.
    For further information, please contact:

Adam Issenberg (202) 616-8476, Eric Angel (202) 514-4775, United States 
Dept. of Justice
Grey Pash (202) 418-1740, Federal Communications Commission, Office of 
General Counsel

Survey Concerning Effects of the ``Must-Carry'' Requirements

    Please complete this form and return it by mail in the enclosed 
envelope or by fax to one of the numbers listed below no later than 
April 7, 1995.

Physical System Identification No.:------------------------------------

Operator:

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1. How many usable activated channels are there on your                 
 cable system? (``Usable activated channels'' are the                   
 channels engineered at the headend which are generally                 
 available to residential subscribers, including channels               
 designated for public, educational or governmental use,                
 regardless of whether those channels are currently in use,             
 and excluding channels that could not, for technical or                
 safety reasons, be used for distribution of broadcast                  
 signals.).................................................    1. ______
2. How many local broadcast television stations now carried             
 on your system are carried in fulfillment of the must-                 
 carry requirements? (This information is required by the               
 FCC's rules to be kept in your public inspection file.)...    2. ______
3. Of these signals you carry because of the must-carry                 
 requirements, how many (a) noncommercial educational and               
 (b) commercial broadcast television stations were added to             
 your system after the date the must-carry rules became                 
 effective? (The effective date of the rules was Dec. 4,                
 1992 for noncommercial educational television stations and             
 June 2, 1993 for commercial television stations.).........             
    Non-commercial educational stations added..............  3.a. ______
    Commercial stations added..............................  3.b. ______
4. How many local broadcast television stations are carried             
 on your system pursuant to retransmission consent?........    4. ______
5. Of the usable activated channels on your system (see                 
 explanation in No. 1 above), how many are not currently                
 used to provide video signals to subscribers?.............    5. ______
                                                                        

    Return to: Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M St., N.W., 
Mail Stop 1400A, Washington, D.C. 20554, Attention: Must-Carry 
Survey, or Fax to: (202) 418-2819, (202) 418-2822.

[FR Doc. 95-6291 Filed 3-13-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M