Source: http://www.fcc.gov/document/order-granting-market-modification-pet-part-and-denying-part?fontsize=mediumFont
Timestamp: 2015-03-31 18:57:20
Document Index: 406684204

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 76', '§76', '§ 534', '§ 76', '§ 76', '§ 76', '§ 534', '§ 73']

Order Granting Market Modification Pet. In Part And Denying In Part | FCC.gov
Home / Business & Legal / Commission Documents / Order Granting Market Modification Pet. In Part And Denying In PartCommission Document	Print
Order Granting Market Modification Pet. In Part And Denying In Part
Word DocumentPDF DocumentText Document	Released: November 25, 2013
DA 13-2250
Petition for Modification of Dayton, OH
CSR-8824-A
Designated Market Area With Regard to )
Docket No. 13-201
Television Station WHIO-TV, Dayton, OH
Adopted: November 25, 2013
1. Cox Media Group (“CMG”), licensee of the CBS-affiliated station WHIO-TV (“WHIO”) of Dayton, Ohio, and located in the Dayton designated market area (“DMA”) filed the above-captioned petition for special relief seeking to include 42 Indiana and Ohio communities in its market for purposes of the mandatory signal carriage provisions of the Communications Act.1 Indiana Broadcasting, LLC (“IB”), licensee of CBS-affiliate WISH-TV, Indianapolis, Indiana and MyNetworkTV-affiliate WNDY-TV, Marion, Indiana, filed an opposition to the petition with respect to the 10 Indiana communities,2 and Block Communications, Inc. (“BCI”) licensee of ABC/CBS-affiliate WOHL-CD, Lima, Ohio, filed an opposition to the petition with respect to 32 Ohio communities.3 WHIO filed a reply to both oppositions.4 For the reasons stated below, we grant in part and deny in part the petition for special relief.
Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Act”), and implementing rules adopted by the Commission, commercial television broadcast stations, such as WHIO, are entitled to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within their market.5 A 1 Petition for Special Relief of Miami Valley Broad. Corp., filed Aug. 12, 2013, at 1 (“Petition”). 2 Opposition of Indiana Broadcasting to Petition for Special Relief, filed Sept. 3, 2013, at 1 n.1 (“IB Opposition”).3 Opposition of Block Communications to Petition for Special Relief, filed Sept. 3, 2013, at 1 (“BCI Opposition”).4 Reply to Oppositions to Petitions for Special Relief, filed Sept. 18, 2013 (“Reply”). BCI filed a Motion for Leave to File Surreply on Sept. 30, 2013 to respond to WHIO’s Reply to which WHIO filed a Response on October 28, 2013. However, because we have not relied upon any of the arguments or facts contested by the parties in these pleadings, we find no extraordinary circumstances to warrant their addition to this proceeding. See 47 C.F.R. § 76.7(d).
5 See Implementation of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Broadcast Signal Carriage Issues, MM Docket No. 92-259, Report and Order, 8 FCC Rcd 2965, 2975-77 ¶¶ 41-46 (1993) (“Must Carry Order”). The Commission has subsequently extended mandatory carriage rights to digital television stations 1
station’s market for this purpose is its “designated market area,” or DMA, as defined by the Nielsen Company.6 The term DMA is a geographic market designation that defines each television market exclusive of others, based on measured viewing patterns. Pursuant to the Commission’s must carry rules, cable operators have the burden of showing that a commercial station located in the same DMA is not entitled to carriage.7 A cable operator can show that a station's signal, which would otherwise be entitled to carriage, does not provide a good quality signal to a cable system's principal headend or is too distant from that headend.8 Should a station fail to provide the requisite over-the-air signal quality to a cable system's principal headend, it still may obtain carriage rights because under the Commission's rules a station may provide a cable operator with specialized equipment, at the station's expense, which will improve the station's signal to an acceptable quality at a cable system's principal headend.9 Particularly important for this case however are the must carry notification procedures and the requirement that a must carry complaint must be filed within 60 days of a cable operator’s denial of a carriage demand.10
With respect to market modification petitions, under the Act, the Commission may consider requests to modify market areas. Section 614(h)(1)(C) provides that the Commission may:
with respect to a particular television broadcast station, include additional communities within its television market or exclude communities from such station’s market to better effectuate the purposes of this section.11
In considering such requests, the 1992 Cable Act provides that:
the Commission shall afford particular attention to the value of localism by taking into account such factors as - (I)
whether the station, or other stations located in the same area, have
been historically carried on the cable system or systems within such community;
(II) whether the television station provides coverage or other local service to such community;
(III) whether any other television station that is eligible to be carried by acable system in such community in fulfillment of the requirements of thissection provides news coverage of issues of concern to such community or provides carriage or coverage of sporting and other events of interest to the community;
under Section 614(a) of the Act and has amended its rules accordingly. See Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals First Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 2598, 2606 ¶¶ 15-16, 2610 ¶ 28 (2001) (“DTV Must Carry Order”); see also 47 C.F.R. §76.64(f)(4).
6 Section 614(h)(1)(C) of the Communications Act, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provides that a station’s 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)(2) of the Commission’s rules specifies that a commercial broadcast television station’s market is its Designated Market Area as determined by The Nielsen Company. 47 C.F.R. § 76.55(e)(2).
7 See Must Carry Order, 8 FCC Rcd at 2990 ¶ 102.8 47 C.F.R. § 76.55(c)(3).9 Must Carry Order, 8 FCC Rcd at 2991 ¶ 104.10 See 47 C.F.R. § 76.61(a)(5).11 47 U.S.C. § 534(h)(1)(C). 2
(IV) evidence of viewing patterns in cable and noncable households withinthe areas served by the cable system or systems in such community.12
4. In adopting rules to implement this provision, the Commission indicated that requested changes should be considered on a community-by-community basis rather than on a county-by-county basis, and that they should be treated as specific to particular stations rather than applicable in common to all stations in the market.13 In the Modification Final Report and Order, the Commission, in an effort to promote administrative efficiency, adopted a standardized evidence approach for modifications that requires the following evidence be submitted:
(1) A map or maps illustrating the relevant community locations andgeographic features, station transmitter sites, cable system headend locations,terrain features that would affect station reception, mileage between thecommunity and the television station transmitter site, transportation routesand any other evidence contributing to the scope of the market. (2) Grade B contour maps14 delineating the station’s technical servicearea15 and showing the location of the cable system headends and communitiesin relation to the service areas.
(3) Available data on shopping and labor patterns in the localmarket.
(4) Television station programming information derived from stationlogs or the local edition of the television guide.
(5) Cable system channel line-up cards or other exhibits establishinghistoric carriage, such as television guide listings.
12 Id.13 Must Carry Order, 8 FCC Rcd 2965, 2977 n.139. 14 Service area maps using Longley-Rice (version 1.2.2) propagation curves may also be included to support a technical service exhibit. The Longley-Rice model provides a more accurate representation of a station’s technical coverage area because it takes into account such factors as mountains and valleys that are not specifically reflected in a traditional Grade B contour analysis. In situations involving mountainous terrain or other unusual geographic features, Longley-Rice propagation studies can aid in determining whether or not a television station actually provides local service to a community under factor two of the market modification test. 15 While the Grade B contour defined an analog television station's service area, see 47 C.F.R. § 73.683(a), with the completion of the full power digital television transition on June 12, 2009, there are no longer any full power analog stations. Instead, as set forth in Section 73.622(e), a station's DTV service area is defined as