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File how2ftp (.txt & .wp) is in directory \pub\Public_Notices\Miscellaneous. ***************************************************************** ******** $//MO&O Granting W14AU's signal carriage request, DA 95-2374//$ $/300.534 Carriage of local commercial television signals/$ $/76.61 Disputes concerning carriage/$ Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 95-2374 In re: ) ) Complaint of Community) CSR-4544-M Broadcasting System, Inc. ) ) against Tele-Media Company ) ) Request for Carriage ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: November 20, 1995 Released: December 4, 1995 By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau: 1. On June 23, 1995, Community Broadcasting System, Inc. ("Community"), licensee of low power television Station W14AU, Reidsville, North Carolina, filed a complaint pursuant to 76.61 of the Commission's Rules claiming that Tele-Media Company ("Tele-Media"), an operator of cable television systems serving Eden and Madison/Mayodan, North Carolina, refused to carry the station. Community's complaint alleges that W14AU is a qualified low power television station within the meaning of 76.56(b)(3) of the Commission's Rules and, therefore, is entitled to carriage. Community requests that the Commission order Tele-Media to carry its signal. Tele-Media filed an opposition to the petition on July 26, 1995. On September 1, 1995, Community filed a reply to the opposition. 2. In support of its complaint, Community argues that W14AU meets all of the qualifying criteria under 76.55(d) of the Commission's Rules. Community maintains that W14AU: 1) broadcasts more the two hours a day and more than 28 hours a week; 2) is located within 35 miles of Tele-Media's principal headends for both Eden and Madison/Mayodan and "believes" the signal level exceeds the -45 dBm signal quality requirement; 3) is in full compliance with Part 73 of the Commission's rules governing children's programming, political broadcasting and Equal Employment Opportunity; 4) is duly licensed under Part 74 of the Commission's Rules and is thus presumed not to cause interference to any other station; 5) Reidsville, its community-of-license, is not located within the 160 largest metropolitan statistical areas; 6) provides locally-originated programming; and 7) there are no full power television stations licensed to serve any community in Rockingham County, the location of Reidsville, Eden, Madison and Mayodan. Community states that on April 26, 1995, Tele-Media notified Community by letter that the signal of W14AU would be deleted due to signal problems, poor picture quality, and violation of copyrights. Community argues that Tele-Media has not documented the alleged problems with picture quality other than in a 1994 conversation, after which Community purchased a higher quality antenna for Tele-Media. 3. In its opposition, Tele-Media argues that the station does not provide a signal of adequate quality to qualify as a must-carry station. Tele-Media contends that on June 30, 1995, following the filing of the Complaint, Tele-Media and Community conducted a joint signal quality test at the two headend sites involved in this dispute. The readings were conducted "for several minutes" using a SAM 1550 Wavetec Field Strength Meter. Tele- Media maintains that the signal at the Madison/Mayodan Headend was -6.6 dBmV [-55.4 dBm], and +1.2 dBmV [-47.6 dBm]at the Eden Headend. Tele-Media contends that because the signal quality test results are below the minimum -45 dBm required by the Commission for mandatory signal carriage of a UHF station, Community's signal is not qualified for carriage on its system. Tele-Media notes that Community is preparing a plan for upgrading the quality of W14AU's signal to the subject headends, and agrees that "at such time as the station's signal quality meets the test set forth in the Commission's rules, Tele-Media will resume carriage as required by the Commission's rules." 4. In its reply to Tele-Media's opposition, Community asserts that the signal quality tests conducted on June 30, 1995 were not in compliance with the Commission's regulations because the measurements were made over a period of "several minutes" rather than the minimum of four readings over a two hour period. Community concludes that Tele- Media has not met its burden of proving inadequate signal quality, and must, therefore, carry the signal of W14AU. 5. Section 614(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires the carriage of "qualified" low power (LPTV) stations in certain limited circumstances. See 47 U.S.C. 534(a). An LPTV station that conforms to the rules established for LPTV stations in Part 74 of the Commission's rules will be considered "qualified" only if: 1) it broadcasts for at least the minimum number of hours of operation required under 47 C.F.R. Part 73; 2) it adheres to Commission requirements regarding nonentertainment programming and employment practices; 3) it complies with interference regulations consistent with its secondary status; 4) it is located no more than 35 miles from the cable system's headend and delivers an over-the-air signal of good quality to the system's principal headend; 5) the community of license of the station and the franchise area of the cable system are both located outside the largest 160 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) on June 30, 1990, and the population of such community of license on that date did not exceed 35,000; and 6) there is no full power television broadcast station licensed to any community within the county or other political subdivision (of a State) served by the cable system. See 47 U.S.C. 534(h)(2); 47 C.F.R. 76.55(d). 6. We are not persuaded by the arguments raised by Tele-Media regarding the failure of Community to place a good quality signal over the Tele-Media headends at issue in this proceeding. With respect to what constitutes a good quality signal, we note that the 1992 Cable Act did not set a specific standard for either VHF or UHF low power television stations. However, Congress did adopt a standard for determining the availability of VHF and UHF commercial stations at a cable system's headend: for VHF commercial television station signals, the standard is -49 dBm; for UHF commercial television station signals, the standard is -45 dBm. Consistent with Congress' guidance with respect to VHF and UHF commercial station availability, we believe it is reasonable to utilize the same standards as prima facie tests to initially determine, absent other evidence, whether VHF or UHF low-power television stations place adequate signal levels over a cable system's principal headend. 7. The initial burden of demonstrating the lack of a good quality signal falls on the cable operator. In meeting this burden, the cable operator must show that it used good engineering practices to measure the signal delivered to the headend. To measure a station's signal to see if it meets the Commission's requirements, a cable operator's signal strength surveys should, at a minimum, include the following: 1) specific make and model numbers of the equipment used, as well as its age and most recent date(s) of calibration; 2) description(s) of the characteristics of the equipment used, such as antenna ranges and radiation patterns; 3) height of the antenna above ground level and whether the antenna was properly oriented; and 4) weather conditions and time of day when tests were done. 8. In addition, good engineering practice require that a cable operator must conduct multiple signal quality tests to ensure accurate results and, in turn, provide that testing information to the affected station when there is a dispute over signal level measurements. Generally, if the test results are less than -51 dBm for a UHF station, we have said that at least four readings must be taken over a two-hour period. Where the initial readings are between -51 dBm and -45 dBm, inclusive, we believe that the readings should be taken over a 24-hour period with measurements not more than four hours apart to establish reliable test results. 9. We conclude that the technical determination reached by Tele-Media is insufficient to demonstrate that W14AU's signal is not of "good quality" based on established criteria. Specifically, Tele-Media did not test the station's signal quality in a consistent manner over a two hour period at its Madison/Mayodan headend or over a 24-hour period at its Eden headend Rather tests at each of these headends were conducted over a time period less than two hours. These testing criteria were specifically enunciated to limit disputes of the type here involved. Consequently, based upon the record before us, we cannot find that W14AU's signal is deficient. 10. Although the tests involved were not completed in accordance with established standards, there are indications in the file that there may be some signal quality problems involved. Tests undertaken with both parties present as reported by an apparently uninterested observer - the Regional Cable TV Administrator or the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. Under the statutory provisions involved, the broadcaster as well as the cable operators have responsibilities and carriage need not be continued in the future if it is demonstrated that "good quality" signals are not present at the headends involved. In this regard it is the responsibility of LPTV stations to deliver a good quality signal over-the-air. 11. In view of the above, the complaint filed on June 23, 1995 by Community Broadcasting System, Inc., licensee of low power television station W14AU, Reidsville, North Carolina IS GRANTED, in accordance with 614(h)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. See 47 U.S.C. 534(h)(2). Tele-Media Company IS ORDERED to commence carriage of W14AU sixty (60) days from the release date of this Order. 12. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by 0.321 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 0.321. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William H. Johnson Deputy Chief, Cable Service Bureau