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apps.fcc.gov/coals/forms ··· e=&psid=The data is spotty (missing some years) and the 2013 report has not been posted yet. Also NYC is missing entirely.
There are roughly quarter million homes in the Lehigh Valley (depending on boundaries chosen). RCN share service with SECTV and many homes and apartments do not have cable (even though there is almost no OTA reception). I figured RCN probably reaches about a third of the homes.
It looks like RCN lost a lot of subscribers when they went all digital in Sep 2009. It looks like a lot of people really hate set top boxes. Total subscribers in Lehigh Valley:
2012 81,765
2008 102,441
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Another thing that surprises me is that the Lehigh Valley form lists the following stations as "must carry". By law if a station selects "must carry" they give up their right to negotiate any compensation from the cable provider. That seems inconsistent with the surcharge on the bill
$3.98 Broadcast TV Surcharge
CBS KYW-TV
ABC WPVI-TV
FOX WTXF-TV
NBC WCAU
The form for RCN Chicago lists as "must carry" the following stations
WTTW PBS
WXFT-DT UniMás
WGBO-DT Univision
WCPX-TV Ion
Which does not include ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC.
It seems like RCN is applying the surcharge across the board even if the local network does not pay for broadcast.