[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
