§ 76.61 - Disputes concerning carriage.

§ 76.61 Disputes concerning carriage.

(a) Complaints regarding carriage of local commercial television stations.

(1) Whenever a local commercial television station or a qualified low power television station believes that a cable operator has failed to meet its carriage or channel positioning obligations, pursuant to §§ 76.56 and 76.57, such station shall notify the operator, in writing, of the alleged failure and identify its reasons for believing that the cable operator is obligated to carry the signal of such station or position such signal on a particular channel.

(2) The cable operator shall, within 30 days of receipt of such written notification, respond in writing to such notification and either commence to carry the signal of such station in accordance with the terms requested or state its reasons for believing that it is not obligated to carry such signal or is in compliance with the channel positioning and repositioning and other requirements of the must-carry rules. If a refusal for carriage is based on the station's distance from the cable system's principal headend, the operator's response shall include the location of such headend. If a cable operator denies carriage on the basis of the failure of the station to deliver a good quality signal at the cable system's principal headend, the cable operator must provide a list of equipment used to make the measurements, the point of measurement and a list and detailed description of the reception and over-the-air signal processing equipment used, including sketches such as block diagrams and a description of the methodology used for processing the signal at issue, in its response.

(3) A local commercial television station or qualified low power television station that is denied carriage or channel positioning or repositioning in accordance with the must-carry rules by a cable operator may file a complaint with the Commission in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 76.7 of this part. In addition to the requirements of § 76.7 of this part, such complaint shall specifically:

(i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to meet its obligations and the basis for such allegations.

(ii) Be accompanied by the notice from the complainant to the cable television system operator, and the cable television system operator's response, if any. If no timely response was received, the complaint shall so state.

(iii) Establish the complaint is being filed within the sixty-day deadline stated in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.

(4) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days of such order or such other time period as the Commission may specify, the cable operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an obligation to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station and continue such carriage for at least 12 months. If the Commission determines that the cable operator has fully met the must-carry requirements, it shall dismiss the complaint.

(5) No must-carry complaint filed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section will be accepted by the Commission if filed more than sixty (60) days after -

(i) The denial by a cable television system operator of request for carriage or channel position contained in the notice required by paragraph (a)(1) of this section, or

(ii) The failure to respond to such notice within the time period allowed by paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(b) Complaints regarding carriage of qualified local NCE television stations.

(1) Whenever a qualified local NCE television station believes that a cable operator has failed to comply with the signal carriage or channel positioning requirements, pursuant to §§ 76.56 through 76.57 of this part, the station may file a complaint with the Commission in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 76.7 of this part. In addition to the requirements of § 76.7 of this part, such complaint shall specifically:

(i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to comply with such requirements and state the basis for such allegations.

(ii) Be accompanied by any relevant correspondence between the complainant and the cable television system operator.

(2) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days of such order or such other period as the Commission may specify, the cable operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an obligation to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station and continue such carriage for a period of time the Commission deems appropriate for the specific case under consideration. If the Commission determines that the cable operator has fully met the must-carry requirements, it shall dismiss the complaint.

(3) With respect to must-carry complaints filed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, such complaints may be filed at any time the complainant believes that the cable television system operator has failed to comply with the applicable provisions of subpart D of this part.

[58 FR 17362, Apr. 2, 1993, as amended at 64 FR 6572, Feb. 10, 1999]