Must Carry (SHVIA) question

[music_beans]

What will happen if any DBS provider refuses to carry a local channel within 75 days?

[TNGTony]

I think the FCC hand book reads something like this:

First - pick a number and add lots of zeros after it then present it to the offending company as a fine. Continue to do so prediodically until the company goes out of business or sees the light and complies.

See ya
Tony

[Geronimo]

There are fines. I am not sure of the amount but they are by station by day. So they can be hefty. But remember if the provider cannot get a quality sigmal OTA they are not required to pay for the fiber feed. The station must do that.

[Jacob S]

This must be why some cities are not and will not be carried for a while, too many must carry channels racking up the price of the locals.

[Geronimo]

Since the4y are not required to pay to get the signal to them I am not sure that there are a lot of costs associatedd with the must carry stations. Having said that if there are 10 stations in a DMA and you carry only 5 it might look worse than not carrying any.

[TNGTony]

Jacob,

Take a look at the must carry rules on http://ekb.dbstalk.com/19 at the bottom of the page. If the station demands "must carry" they cannot charge Dish for the right to be carried. One or the other. And once they pick, they are stuck with it until the next "election period" usually 3 years.

See ya
Tony

[Greg Bimson]

music_beans,

It depends. If you are discussing what happens if your local Sioux Falls ABC and Dish Network cannot come to an agreement, then nothing happens.

DirecTV and the owners of Portland's KOIN CBS did not reach an agreement for a year and a half.

On the other hand, if you are talking about PBS stations, and those that requested must-carry, the satellite providers have 75 days to provide the must-carry channel carriage, after that station has delivered an acceptable signal to the point of presence.

Take a look at the two New Hampshire stations that were just added to the Boston locals on DirecTV. It has been almost 18 months since the spot beam satellite went online, and almost 2 years since both WENH and WNDS declared must-carry status. Must-carry, as perscribed by the SHVIA, had to be declared by July 1, 2001. Both stations finally delivered their quality signal to the point-of-presence.