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story category Small MSOs May Get Relief From Must Carry Rule
FCC to vote on new rules later this month
(old news - 01:03PM Sunday Aug 10 2008)
tags: fcc · business · cable · Comcast
Last year the FCC created a “must carry” rule which says that cable operators are required to offer both analog and digital signals for three years following the migration to digital TV that is set for February 2009. This rule has been opposed by small cable broadband operators who argue that they can’t afford to follow the rule and therefore may not be able to survive in the market if forced to follow it. An upcoming FCC vote on new rules supported by FCC chief Kevin Martin could offer them some reprieve.
"According to FCC and industry sources, the new rules would provide relief for all cable systems, regardless of channel capacity, that have 2,500 subscribers or fewer and are not owned by Comcast or Time Warner. All cable systems at 552-Megahertz of capacity or less would be covered, with no limitation on ownership or number of subscribers."
The NCTA is still not happy with the new rules; they are pushing for an increase to 5,000 subscribers and an elimination of the ban on Comcast / Time Warner MSOs.

Related:
  1. FCC Majority Plans To Punish Comcast For Throttling
  2. Comcast Catches a Break In FCC Throttling Fight
  3. FCC's Comcast Throttling Deadline At Midnight
  4. Martin, Comcast, Continue Lover's Feud
  5. FCC Doesn't Like Comcast's New Treatment of VoIP
  6. Cable Carriers Fined For Stalling FCC Price Investigation
  7. Comcast Denies Unfair VoIP Discrimination
  8. Comcast Fights - For Its Right - To Get Bigger
Forums » Small MSOs May Get Relief From Must Carry Rule
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Sahrin

join:2004-05-15
Houston, TX

What purpose does this rule serve?

It seems to me that cable analog transmission should die at the same time OTA analog does.

What helpful consumer group is advocating for this particular cement boot?

MacLeech
The one and only
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join:2001-07-14
SoCal

Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

Cable providers CAN drop analog... as long as they offer all the "must carry" channels in digital, give all their subscribers a way to receive them, and have no analog subscribers.

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge

join:2003-09-16
Warren, OH
clubs:

Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

I'm all for it. It's time to finally get with the times:

Cell phone companies have went all digital.
OTA tv is going all digital here in the next couple months.
Landline telephone service has been all digital for years right up to the remote in your neighborhood (and could easily go all digital right to the home ala FiOS and Uverse.)

Comcast has already been making a full digital transition on the Chicago area and is providing legacy analog customers free set-tops to continue receiving their programming and so far that plan has been working out. Why does that region have to be the only one?
--
I swear, some people should have pace-makers installed to free up the resources. Breathing and heart beat taxes their whole system, all of their brain cells wasted on life support.-two bit brains, and the second bit is wasted on parity! ~head_spaz

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Avalon, NJ
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Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

said by Vchat20 See Profile :

Comcast has already been making a full digital transition on the Chicago area and is providing legacy analog customers free set-tops to continue receiving their programming and so far that plan has been working out. Why does that region have to be the only one?
It doesn't. Philadelphia has cut customers the same deal as Chicago to go all digital.
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Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge

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Warren, OH
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1 edit

Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

Yeah. Philadelphia. TWO regions. Out of how many in the whole country? I want to see EVERY region that is technically capable (read: Has enough set-tops in stock for every customer.) go this route.

GOLFnSUN
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Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

said by Vchat20 See Profile :

Yeah. Philadelphia. TWO regions. Out of how many in the whole country? I want to see EVERY region that is technically capable (read: Has enough set-tops in stock for every customer.) go this route.
More regions may have done the same thing. Do you know otherwise? I only know about Philadelphia because I have relatives there.
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mtkeller

join:2008-07-30
Atlanta, GA
We get free set-tops from Comcast in Atlanta, even though they seem to be taking their sweet time in moving channels to digital.
hottboiinnc
ME

join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH
UVerse is copper from the VARD to your house. Not digital.

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge

join:2003-09-16
Warren, OH
clubs:

Re: What purpose does this rule serve?

said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

UVerse is copper from the VARD to your house. Not digital.
If that's the case, then digital cable is 'not digital', ota digital tv is 'not digital', cell phones are 'not digital'. The actual DATA going over the copper is DIGITAL which is the point.
--
I swear, some people should have pace-makers installed to free up the resources. Breathing and heart beat taxes their whole system, all of their brain cells wasted on life support.-two bit brains, and the second bit is wasted on parity! ~head_spaz
EPS

join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

UVerse is copper from the VARD to your house. Not digital.
Do you know what the word "digital" means?

RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
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join:2002-04-02
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3 edits
said by Sahrin See Profile :

It seems to me that cable analog transmission should die at the same time OTA analog does.

What helpful consumer group is advocating for this particular cement boot?
Actually, OTA Analog will still be going after the Febuary 2009 date in some markets (like mine, Mendocino County in NW CA, we're served by Low Power Translators.)-

»www.lptvanswers.com/

LPT that serves us-

»www.tiaukiah.org/index.html

"Important - About Digital TV!
DO NOT WORRY! You will not be affected by digital TV changes right away. We will still transmit in analog.

However, you should still purchase a DTV conterter box using the DTV coupons ($40) from the government because eventually we will transmit DTV signals. If you wait until next year, the coupons may no longer be available. And note: you must buy a DTV converter that has analog pass-through in order to receive all TIA stations! It's not as hard as it sounds... read DTV on TV Translators to find out more.

It has yet to be determined how many stations we will be able to receive once the switch has been made to DTV."
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bugabuga

join:2004-06-10
Austin, TX

Digital capacity?

I wonder how do they count Mhz of digital capacity

luckykevin

join:2005-04-30
Arlington, TX

Re: Digital capacity?

6mhzxnumber of analog capcity

plus 5-42 is used for upstream

for example 136x6+54=870mhz.
we are a suburban 870mhz system.

we are time warner cable

we still have open room.
35 hds
shooting for 50 by years end.
bugabuga

join:2004-06-10
Austin, TX

Re: Digital capacity?

No, I was referring to systems that essentially run as IPTV. So if small local cable operator is running digitally, how would they calculate if they have to carry analog channels or not
cabledad

join:2007-03-13
Pottsboro, TX
·ACN VoIP

small cable systems

There you guys go comparing the thousands of really small cable companys to Comcast and Time Warner.The FCC should not be telling these small operators they have to do anything ,there customers will tell them.If they don't like what the operator does they will go to dish.I guess that in the State of Texas there is 300 to 500 small cable systems that are on the verge of going broke.Chuck

Dogfather
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Laguna Hills, CA
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2 edits

Re: small cable systems

said by cabledad See Profile :

I guess that in the State of Texas there is 300 to 500 small cable systems that are on the verge of going broke.Chuck
I would be guessing that you would be guessing wrong.

Corehhi

join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

I'm on a small cable company's cable. They are also the phone company and the only high speed internet. They charge more for digital TV and I would bet they will charge more forever for digital cable. You don't pay up and you will get analog for ever. They will simply give you a box down the rode to convert the digital signal to analog for you. Probably charge you for each additional box.

Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

What does the FCC care?

Why should the FCC give a crap whether or not a cable system offers analog channels?

Gotta love unfunded mandates. Where is the requirement that DBS offer analog channels?
EPS

join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

Re: What does the FCC care?

Must carry is done for the benefit of owners of traditional broadcast channels, not for consumers- otherwise the value of a broadcast license would greatly decline, as cable companies could cut off a large segment of the viewership. You see this already with some low-power stations, even affiliates of networks, that get cut off by cablecos.

As for DBS, I think the FCC recognizes the technical challenges in that case... if there was a reasonable and cost-effective way that all local stations could be carried, the FCC would likely require it.

Dogfather
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Re: What does the FCC care?

I'm confused then. Why is the FCC mandating they carry both analog and digital feeds? Why not just carry digital just like DBS does and then if people want extra boxes they can pay for them.

The FCC says free cable box rentals are a God given right? Then let the FCC pay for it.

Millenniumle

join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY

...

It looks like it's only a matter of time before I have to either get rid of the extra televisions or pay box fees on all of them. Nice.

As if my cable bill isn't enough already. Perhaps the FCC will do something for the consumer that doesn't result in higher prices. Couldn't they just leave analog alone? Cable won't dump it if not forced because it's cable's biggest advantage over all of its competetion. One line, one fee, many televisions.
Da Man

join:2008-05-08
Hanover, PA

Re: ...

Since locals should be sent in the clear you don't need the CableCo's box to view them so its okay by me if they drop them. Not like there is much to watch on network TV these days anyway that every TV would need to able to view them.
goalieskates

join:2004-09-12
Knoxville, TN
·Knology
·Comcast

Re: ...

said by Da Man See Profile :

Since locals should be sent in the clear you don't need the CableCo's box to view them so its okay by me if they drop them. Not like there is much to watch on network TV these days anyway that every TV would need to able to view them.
You must live somewhere flat. For those of us with mountains, we can't receive some locals even with antennas.

baineschile
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join:2008-05-10
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Its not as simple as that; if cable dropped analog altogether, they could

a. profit a bit more by requiring a set top box on all tvs (something that the tv telcos and sattelite already do)

b. free up so much spectrum where they could actually compete in the hd war. i have comcast, and only something like 35 channels, granted there is at least one more on the way this week (big ten network)

The problem is, when comcast and twc bought up systems like mad, the huge subscriber base still has the coax plugged directly into to the tv.

I myself am an HD junkie, one DLP one Plasma. Still got the old coax plugged in in the bedroom though....

stomp357

join:2003-04-13
Lake Charles, LA

Free conversion box

Fine. They can do away with analog, but don't force me to pay more than what I pay now for basic analog ($21.00), and provide the conversion box rent free. I didn't want this digital crap anyway.

luckykevin

join:2005-04-30
Arlington, TX

Re: digital conversion woes/great upgrade

my area has seen

halmark
amc
tv guide channel
gsn
emt

all moved to digital and be repalced with more analog channels

we have 80 analogs

plus 35hd
digital simulcasting
ondemand
h.s.i.
voipx2

we are a now a 870mhz system up from 750mhz motorola.

we still have more room for 9 to 10 qams

BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN


1 edit

Re: Free conversion box

said by stomp357 See Profile :

Fine. They can do away with analog, but don't force me to pay more than what I pay now for basic analog ($21.00), and provide the conversion box rent free. I didn't want this digital crap anyway.
No one is forcing you to have cable either last time I checked.

If basic cable is all you have why not just have OTA? That's free. Charter is my local cable compnay. Chater's basic is 2-22. CH 16 has nothing on it. 3 channels are either for local ads or ads for PPV movies, 2 are Jesus channels I couldn't care less about, 2 are shopping channels. 1 is C-Span. All the rest are locals I can get using a antenna except WGN. I may watch WGN sometimes, but I wouldn't pay $20 a month just to have it. So if I was going to have just basic, I wouldn't, I would just use OTA.

stomp357

join:2003-04-13
Lake Charles, LA
·Suddenlink

Re: Free conversion box

said by BF69 See Profile :

said by stomp357 See Profile :

Fine. They can do away with analog, but don't force me to pay more than what I pay now for basic analog ($21.00), and provide the conversion box rent free. I didn't want this digital crap anyway.
No one is forcing you to have cable either last time I checked.

If basic cable is all you have why not just have OTA? That's free. Charter is my local cable compnay. Chater's basic is 2-22. CH 16 has nothing on it. 3 channels are either for local ads or ads for PPV movies, 2 are Jesus channels I couldn't care less about, 2 are shopping channels. 1 is C-Span. All the rest are locals I can get using a antenna except WGN. I may watch WGN sometimes, but I wouldn't pay $20 a month just to have it. So if I was going to have just basic, I wouldn't, I would just use OTA.
Well here, basic gets me channel 2-15, then the channels 55-78 that are used (TVLand, SciFi, Discovery, and such). OTA digital gets 4 local, & PBS here. That's it. Same as it's been for years with analog OTA. Nothing new. Why switch?
AstroBoy

join:2008-08-08
Parkville, MD

Verizon

I thought I read the FCC already allowed Verizon to drop analog support on FIOS.
Why is cable any different?

Also, everyone has been telling the public, if you have a paid service, no need to worry about the Feb 2009 date.
EPS

join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

Re: Verizon

Dual must-carry only applies if you're keeping any analog service at all. If a cable system eliminates all analog service, analog must-carry requirements are eliminated, however, the company must provide free converters to analog customers (which Verizon has done).
Forums » Small MSOs May Get Relief From Must Carry Rule


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