[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45375-45376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21610]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 76
[MM Docket No. 93-304; DA 95-1850]
Cable Television Service; List of Major Television Markets
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Commission, through this action, amends its rules
regarding the listing of major television markets to change the
designation of the Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Corona-Fontana-Riverside,
California television market to include the community of Anaheim,
California. This action is taken at the request of Golden Orange
Broadcasting Company, licensee of television station KDOC-TV, channel
56, Anaheim, California.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
William H. Johnson, Cable Services Bureau, (202) 416-0800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
Report and Order, MM Docket No. 93-304, adopted May 16, 1995 and
released August 28, 1995. The complete text of this document is
available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in
the FCC Reference Center (room 239), 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC
20554, and may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor,
International Transcription Service, (202) 857-3800, 1919 M Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20554.
Synopsis of the Report and Order
a. Before the Commission is the Notice of Proposed Rule Making in
the captioned proceeding, 58 FR 68844, December 29, 1993, issued in
response to a petition filed by Golden Orange Broadcasting Co.,
licensee of television station KDOC-TV, channel 56, Anaheim, California
(``KDOC'') and the comments received in response thereto. The Notice
proposed to amend Sec. 76.51 of the Commission's rules, to change the
designation of the Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Corona-Fontana-Riverside,
California television market to ``Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Corona-
Fontana-Riverside-Anaheim, California.'' Community Cablevision Company,
d/b/a/ Dimension Cable Services (``Dimension Cable''), a cable
television system operator providing service to Newport Beach, Irvine,
Tustin, and Orange, the University of California, Irvine and the Marine
Corps Air Stations in Tustin and El Toro filed comments, to which KDOC
filed a reply.
Background
2. Section 76.51 of the Commission's rules enumerates the top 100
television markets and the designated communities within those markets.
Among other things, this market list is used to determine the scope of
territorial exclusivity rights that television broadcast stations may
purchase and, in addition, may help define the scope of compulsory
copyright license liability for cable operators in certain
circumstances. Certain cable television syndicated exclusivity and
network nonduplication rights are also determined by the presence of
broadcast station communities of license on this list. Some of the
markets consist of more than one named community (a ``hyphenated
market''). Such ``hyphenation'' of a market is based on the premise
that stations licensed to any of the named communities in the
hyphenated market do, in fact, compete with all stations licensed to
such communities. Market hyphenation ``helps equalize competition''
where portions of the market are located beyond the Grade B contours of
some stations in the area yet the stations compete for economic
support.
3. Section 4 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992 (``Cable Act''), which amended section 614 of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``Act''), requires the
Commission to make revisions needed to update the list of top 100
television markets and their designated communities in Sec. 76.51 of
the Commission's rules.
Notice of Proposed Rule Making
4. The Notice of Proposed Rule Making in this proceeding noted that
Anaheim was in the center of the Los Angeles market, 21 miles from
downtown Los Angeles and virtually encompassed within the combined 35-
mile zones of San Bernardino, Corona and Fontana and that KDOC-TV's
Grade B signal contour encompasses all of the designated communities in
the market. Its Grade B signal contour, the Notice indicated, was
similar in location and coverage to the Grade B contours of other
market-area stations. Further, KDOC-TV's transmitter is located at the
same Sunset Ridge site as those of television stations KSCI and KZKI
which are licensed to San Bernardino.
Rule Making Comments
5. Petitioner KDOC filed brief comments in support of the requested
change in the rules stating that ``there is
[[Page 45376]]
sufficient commonality between Anaheim and the existing communities in
the television market to merit the inclusion of Anaheim in that
market.'' Dimension Cable in its comments incorporated by reference
comments it had filed in Docket 93-209, a proceeding involving the New
York television market in which parties had been invited to address
issues relating to market hyphenation in large and complex markets like
the New York and Los Angeles markets. In those comments Dimension
argued that television stations in large markets were constrained in
seeking to exercise mandatory cable carriage rights by copyright
payment obligations outside of the market area defined by Sec. 76.51 of
the Commission's rules. It then argued:
Had Congress intended to relieve broadcast stations of potential
copyright liability in order to qualify for must carry status, it
could have required wholesale revisions to Sec. 76.51 of the
Commission rules or amended section 111 of the Copyright Act. Rather
than doing so, Congress expressed its intent not to work any
fundamental changes in the copyright law. As commenters in this
proceeding have urged, the Commission should not now allow stations
to obtain must carry rights (and end-run the statute) through market
redesignation * * * (footnotes omitted).
Thus, it urged the Commission not to adopt the proposed market
redesignation.
Discussion
6. A ``hyphenated market'' has been described by the Commission as
a television market that contains more than one major population center
supporting all stations in the market, with competing stations licensed
to different cities within the market area. In evaluating past requests
for hyphenation of a market, the Commission has considered the
following as relevant to its examination: (1) The distance between the
existing designated communities and the community proposed to be added
to the designation; (2) whether cable carriage, if afforded to the
subject station, would extend to areas beyond its Grade B signal
coverage area (a concern which has reduced relevance under the must
carry rules promulgated as a result of the 1992 Cable Act); (3) the
presence of a clear showing of a particularized need by the station
requesting the change of market designation; and (4) an indication of
benefit to the public from the proposed change. Each of these factors
helps the Commission to evaluate individual market conditions
consistent ``with the underlying competitive purpose of the market
hyphenation rule to delineate areas where stations can and do, both
actually and logically, compete.''
7. Based on the facts set forth in the Notice of Rulemaking, which
have not been disputed by the comments herein, and on the responsive
comments, we believe that a case for redesignation of the subject
market has been set forth so that this proposal should be adopted. It
appears from the information before us that television stations
licensed to Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Corona, Riverside and Anaheim
do compete in the proposed combined market area, and that sufficient
evidence has been presented to demonstrate commonality between the
proposed community to be added to the market designation and the market
as a whole. Such a rationalization of the competitive situation appears
to be the public benefit which Congress anticipated by instructing the
Commission, in section 614(f) of the Cable Television Consumer
Protection and Competition Act of 1992, to make necessary revisions to
update the market list. This action, moreover, is entirely consistent
with the Report and Order in Docket 93-207, 58 FR 67694, December 22,
1993, which added Riverside as a designated community in the market.
8. The issue raised by Dimension Cable regarding copyright
liability has largely been resolved with the passage of the Satellite
Home Viewer Act of 1994, which amended section 111(f) of title 17,
United States Code. Under this Act, a station located within the same
ADI as a cable system is no longer considered a ``distant signal'' on
that system for purposes of compulsory copyright license liability and,
therefore, is not subject to the additional copyright fees attendant to
``distant signal'' carriage within the market. Thus, the issue raised
by Dimension has now been directly addressed by Congress and is not an
obstacle to the action proposed in this proceeding.
9. As an additional matter, since no station is licensed to
Fontana, however, and since only communities with licensed stations
have ``specified zones'' (Sec. 76.5(e)) and contribute to the area and
coverage of a hyphenated market (Sec. 76.5(f)), reference to it will be
eliminated from Sec. 76.51.
10. Accordingly, it is ordered, that effective October 2, 1995,
Sec. 76.51 of the Commission's rules is amended to include Anaheim and
delete Fontana as follows:
Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Corona-Riverside-Anaheim, California.
11. It is further ordered, that this proceeding is terminated.
12. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by
Sec. 0.321 of the Commission's rules. 47 CFR 0.321.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 76
Cable Television.
Part 76, Chapter I of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations
is amended as follows:
PART 76--CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE
1. The authority citation for part 76 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303.
2. Section 76.51 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(28) to read
as follows:
Sec. 76.51 Major television markets.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(28) Los Angeles-San Bernardino-Corona-Riverside-Anaheim,
California.
* * * * *
Federal Communications Commission.
William H. Johnson,
Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau.
[FR Doc. 95-21610 Filed 8-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M
