The election referenced in the above rule, which takes place every three years pursuant to the statute, permits local broadcasters to proceed under the mandatory carriage rules and insist on carriage in their local market area, or to proceed under the retransmission consent rules permitting broadcasters and cable operators to negotiate cable carriage arrangements. The next election must be made by October 1, 1996. While Arbitron ADIs generally define the area in which a station is entitled to insist on carriage, the Act also directs the Commission to consider individual requests for changes in ADIs. Subsequent to the adoption of the above referenced rules, Arbitron ceased its designation and publication of ADI market areas. Accordingly, the rules need to be amended to establish a new mechanism for defining market areas in which television broadcasters may insist on carriage.
Several options appear to be available.
There are differences between DMA and ADI market areas. For instance, Arbitron considers some areas, such as Hagerstown, Maryland or Sarasota, Florida, as separate markets, while under the Nielsen market definition, they are not considered separate. Both listings, however, appear to have been intended to serve roughly the same purposes in the sales of broadcast station advertising time and programming. Another option would be to retain the existing market definitions for the 1996 election period and switch to a Nielsen based standard thereafter. It is our tentative view that the second of these options is preferable.