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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In re: ) ) TCI of Illinois, Inc., ) CSR-4912-A St. Louis Tele-Communications, Inc., and ) TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc. ) ) For Modification of the ADI Market of ) Television Broadcast Station WCEE,) Mount Vernon, Illinois ) ) Paxson St. Louis, Inc., ) CSR-4985-M Must-Carry Complaint Concerning ) Carriage of Television Broadcast Station ) WCEE, Mount Vernon, Illinois on Cable ) Systems Serving St. Peters, Missouri and ) Imperial, Missouri. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: May 9, 1997 Released: May 12, 1997 By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION 1. TCI of Illinois, Inc., St. Louis Tele-Communications, Inc., and TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc., (collectively "TCI"), operators of cable television systems serving communities in and around St. Louis, Missouri, have filed the captioned petition which seeks to exclude certain communities served by TCI from the St. Louis, Missouri area of dominant influence ("ADI") of television station WCEE (Ind., Channel 13), Mount Vernon, Illinois. Paxson St. Louis License, Inc., ("WCEE") licensee of WCEE, filed an opposition to TCI's petition, and TCI filed a reply. TCI subsequently filed a supplement to its petition. TCI also submitted a letter in response to an information request by staff at the Cable Services Bureau. We further note that WCEE filed a must-carry complaint against TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc., which the cable operator opposed and which we resolve herein. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted by the Commission in its Report and Order in MM Docket 92-25, commercial television broadcast stations are entitled to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within the station's market. A station's market for this purpose is its "area of dominant influence" or ADI as defined by the Arbitron audience research organization. An ADI is a geographic market designation that defines each television market exclusive of others, based on measured viewing patterns. Essentially, each county in the United States is allocated to a market based on which home-market stations receive a preponderance of total viewing hours in the county. For purposes of this calculation, both over- the-air and cable television viewing are included. 3. Under the Act, however, the Commission is also directed to consider changes in market areas. Section 614(h)(1)(C) provides that the Commission may: with respect to a particular television broadcast station, include additional communities within its television market or exclude communities from such station's television market to better effectuate the purposes of this section. In considering such requests, the Act provides that: the Commission shall afford particular attention to the value of localism by taking into account such factors as -- (I) whether the station, or other stations located in the same area, have been historically carried on the cable system or systems within such community; (II) whether the television station provides coverage or other local service to such community; (III) whether any other television station that is eligible to be carried by a cable system in such community in fulfillment of the requirements of this section provides news coverage of issues of concern to such community or provides carriage or coverage of sporting and other events of interest to the community; and (IV) evidence of viewing patterns in cable and noncable households within the areas served by the cable system or systems in such community. 4. The legislative history of this provision indicates that: where the presumption in favor of ADI carriage would result in cable subscribers losing access to local stations because they are outside the ADI in which a local cable system operates, the FCC may make an adjustment to include or exclude particular communities from a television station's market consistent with Congress' objective to ensure that television stations be carried in the areas which they serve and which form their economic market. * * * * * [This subsection] establishes certain criteria which the Commission shall consider in acting on requests to modify the geographic area in which stations have signal carriage rights. These factors are not intended to be exclusive, but may be used to demonstrate that a community is part of a particular station's market. 5. The Commission provided guidance in its Report and Order in MM Docket 92-259, supra, to aid decision making in these matters, as follows: For example, the historical carriage of the station could be illustrated by the submission of documents listing the cable system's channel line-up (e.g., rate cards) for a period of years. To show that the station provides coverage or other local service to the cable community (factor 2), parties may demonstrate that the station places at least a Grade B coverage contour over the cable community or is located close to the community in terms of mileage. Coverage of news or other programming of interest to the community could be demonstrated by program logs or other descriptions of local program offerings. The final factor concerns viewing patterns in the cable community in cable and noncable homes. Audience data clearly provide appropriate evidence about this factor. In this regard, we note that surveys such as those used to demonstrate significantly viewed status could be useful. However, since this factor requires us to evaluate viewing on a community basis for cable and noncable homes, and significantly viewed surveys typically measure viewing only in noncable households, such surveys may need to be supplemented with additional data concerning viewing in cable homes. 6. As for deletions of communities from a station's market, the legislative history of this provision indicates that: The provisions of [this subsection] reflect a recognition that the Commission may conclude that a community within a station's ADI may be so far removed from the station that it cannot be deemed part of the station's market. It is not the Committee's intention that these provisions be used by cable systems to manipulate their carriage obligations to avoid compliance with the objectives of this section. Further, this section is not intended to permit a cable system to discriminate among several stations licensed to the same community. Unless a cable system can point to particularized evidence that its community is not part of one station's market, it should not be permitted to single out individual stations serving the same area and request that the cable system's community be deleted from the station's television market. 7. In adopting rules to implement this provision, the Commission indicated that requested changes should be considered on a community-by-community basis rather than on a County-by- County basis, and that they should be treated as specific to particular stations rather than applicable in common to all stations in the market. The rules further provide, in accordance with the requirements of the 1992 Cable Act, that a station not be deleted from carriage during the pendency of an ADI change request. MARKET FACTS AND ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES 8. The communities at issue in this proceeding (the "Communities") are located in Madison, St. Clair, and Clinton counties, Illinois and St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties, Missouri. They are centrally located in the St. Louis ADI. WCEE's city of license, Mount Vernon, Illinois, is located in Jefferson County, on the eastern edge of the St. Louis ADI, approximately 75 miles from St. Louis. The Mississippi River bisects the ADI. 9. TCI asserts that it satisfies each of the four market modification criteria set forth in the 1992 Cable Act. With respect to the historical carriage factor, TCI claims that it has never carried WCEE, although the station has been in operation since 1983. In addition, TCI states that it is not aware of carriage of WCEE by any other cable operators serving the communities immediately surrounding TCI's St. Louis area cable systems. TCI contends that because WCEE has not been carried on its systems and has not received significant local ratings, excluding the Communities from WCEE's ADI would not disrupt established viewing patterns. 10. TCI argues that WCEE does not provide sufficient signal coverage of the Communities. According to TCI, the vast majority of communities served by its St. Louis area systems lie beyond the Grade B contour of WCEE. TCI also asserts that nine of the eleven headends serving the communities at issue fall outside of WCEE's Grade B contour. TCI stipulates that its cable systems serving the St. Louis area are, on average, more than 85 miles from Mount Vernon, WCEE's city of license. TCI contends that its remaining two headends, located in Illinois, on the western edge of WCEE's Grade B contour, are, on average, approximately 55 miles from Mount Vernon. TCI relies on our decision in Charter Communications Entertainment I, L.P. et al. ("Charter") to further support its market modification request. TCI notes that in Charter the Commission modified WCEE's market to exclude communities located just inside of the station's Grade B contour, but an average of approximately 60 miles from Mount Vernon. TCI also points out that in Charter the Commission determined that WCEE's Grade B contour coverage would not be given conclusive weight as WCEE had not presented particular evidence of locally oriented programming. 11. TCI contends that WCEE offers no significant local programming to the Communities. TCI asserts that the St. Louis edition of TV Guide no longer lists WCEE as being carried by any St. Louis area cable systems. TCI notes that the St. Louis edition of TV Guide for the week June 15-21, 1996, which did include WCEE, "reveals that approximately 37% of WCEE's broadcast consists of `paid programming' or `infomercials.' Another 36% of WCEE's broadcast consists of Gospel Music." TCI argues that such programming bears no relationship to news and events in and around St. Louis. TCI further states that it could not identify any significant local coverage of the Communities in the remainder of the station's programming. TCI acknowledges that WCEE may have recently added a weekly program entitled "St. Louis Views." TCI contends, however, that such programming is at best "de minimis" and is insufficient to satisfy the local coverage factor for market modification. Further, TCI maintains that carriage of WCEE would require the deletion of more desirable programming from its systems. TCI also states that Nielsen's market designation assigns WCEE to the Paducah, Kentucky--Cape Girardeau, Missouri--Harrisburg, Illinois--Mount Vernon, Illinois Designated Market Area (DMA), and that the Paducah edition of TV Guide lists WCEE as an offered channel. 12. TCI contends that it already carries numerous St. Louis stations which provide ample local service to, and coverage of, the communities in question. TCI offers specific examples of the locally oriented programming it carries such as "Today in St. Louis" and "Show me St. Louis." TCI asserts that in cases where a cable operator is seeking to delete communities from a station's ADI, and the station is not providing local service to those communities, the carriage of other local stations by the cable operator is a factor to which we have assigned greater weight than in cases where a party is seeking to add communities. TCI notes that some of its systems also air local origination and local access programs that provide local news and sports coverage. TCI argues that even if WCEE were to provide locally oriented programming to the Communities, the coverage afforded by other local stations would lessen any particular benefits associated with carriage of WCEE. 13. Finally, TCI contends that WCEE is not generally viewed in the Communities in either cable or non-cable households. TCI submits a letter from the Cable Advertising Network of Greater St. Louis -- which compiles Nielsen daypart viewing data for the St. Louis DMA -- to demonstrate that WCEE achieves virtually no measured off-air viewing in the St. Louis DMA. 14. In opposition to TCI's petition, WCEE contends that TCI seeks modification of the station's ADI in order to avoid its obligations under the must-carry rules. WCEE maintains that grant of TCI's petition would conflict with the goals of the must-carry provisions. WCEE asserts that the must-carry rules require carriage throughout a station's ADI. WCEE further contends that the must- carry rules were designed, in large part, to protect the small, vulnerable, independent commercial stations from being denied cable carriage so that they could compete effectively for viewership and advertising revenues. WCEE argues that the communities at issue are at "the very heart of the St. Louis ADI" and the area in which WCEE must be carried in order to compete effectively. WCEE claims that TCI's petition seeks to delete the very type of station that the must-carry rules were designed to protect. In addition, in response to TCI's emphasis on the distance between its cable systems or the Communities and WCEE's city of license, WCEE asserts that Congress, in enacting the must-carry rules, rejected a mileage or signal contour based approach and, instead, opted for defining a station's market by reference to ADIs. 15. WCEE argues that Section 614(h)(1)(C)(i) of the Act authorizes the Commission to modify ADI markets "to better effectuate the purposes of this section," which WCEE states are to ensure cable carriage of local stations so that they may originate local programming, and to counteract cable operators' economic incentive to delete stations which compete for advertising revenue with the operators. WCEE asserts that the burden is on the cable operator seeking a community deletion, not on the affected station, to justify market modification by proving that such deletion would "better effectuate" the purposes of the must-carry rules. WCEE contends that TCI has failed to meet this burden. WCEE cites legislative history of the 1992 Cable Act stating that deletion of communities from a station's ADI is appropriate where the presumption in favor of ADI carriage would result in cable subscribers losing access to local stations because they are outside of the ADI. WCEE states that TCI does not allege that carrying WCEE would preclude it from carrying a more local broadcast station. WCEE asserts that, apparently, 26 of the communities at issue are served by cable systems that have at least one unused channel available. WCEE argues that grant of TCI's petition "would subvert the clear intent of Congress to ensure that small, specialty stations like WCEE-TV are allowed to compete effectively in their television marketplace ... ." 16. Turning to the four statutory factors, WCEE argues that its lack of historical carriage should not be given great weight in a situation where, as here, cable operators seek to delete communities from a station's ADI. The station insists that its lack of historical carriage should not be controlling in such circumstances because otherwise small stations, like WCEE, which previously have been denied carriage, would be prevented from ever being carried, contrary to the purposes of the must- carry provisions. 17. Regarding the provision of local service, WCEE contends that it airs programming of local interest to the Communities by means of a pioneering format that combines "program-length presentations by local and national businesses and community organizations with religious and local public affairs programming." Specifically, WCEE states that it airs presentations by businesses and community organizations during daytime hours, syndicated programming during prime-time hours, and religious programming through the night. WCEE further states that it presents three hours of children's programming weekly in the mornings (7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday), additional religious programming on Sunday (7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.), and an hour long locally-produced public affairs program entitled "St. Louis Views" (5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday). WCEE contends that, through its program-length presentations, it provides a valuable and effective advertising platform for local businesses and organizations, and expects that within two years up to 45% of the station's time devoted to program-length presentations will be acquired by local businesses and organizations. In response to TCI's argument that the amount of locally oriented programming aired by WCEE is "de minimis," the station asserts that the must-carry rules do not require the provision of a certain threshold amount of local programming by a station in order for it to be eligible for must-carry status. WCEE further contends that it currently provides a substantial amount of local programming. WCEE states that it has entered into an agreement to provide exclusive coverage of University of Illinois Men's Basketball in the St. Louis DMA. WCEE states that, apart from its current provision of local programming, it is committed to airing programming in the future that is geared to the needs and interests of residents of the Communities. WCEE submits a Declaration by Dean Goodman, President of Paxson Television, stating a commitment to air at least four programs each month tailored to the Communities if WCEE is carried on the cable systems owned by the petitioners in this proceeding. WCEE contends that its future programming commitments should be taken into consideration because it has been denied the cable carriage that would permit it to access the audience and financial base necessary to originate quality local programming. 18. WCEE asserts that it provides Grade B contour coverage to a number of the Communities. WCEE further maintains that it provides service beyond its Grade B contour through Low Power Television Station (LPTV) K07TV, St. Louis, Missouri, which retransmits the programming of the principal station. WCEE argues that its acquisition of K07TV demonstrates its commitment to serving the entire St. Louis ADI. WCEE maintains that its ability to reach residents in the Communities over the air, through K07TV, is a legitimate indicator of local service and that use of an LPTV to provide a signal should not be treated any differently than the situation in which a station upgrades its primary transmitter to provide a stronger signal. 19. WCEE argues that TCI's carriage of other stations which provide local coverage should not be considered as support for TCI's request to delete communities from WCEE's ADI. WCEE also contends that TCI's carriage of the local origination programming described in its pleading does not strengthen its market modification request because the programming is carried by a cable station and not aired by local broadcast television stations as required under the market modification factor relating to the carriage of "other television station[s]." 20. Finally, in regard to viewing patterns, WCEE contends that its modest audience share must be considered in light of its nature as an independent station with a specialty format. WCEE further notes that TCI carries two other stations -- Television Broadcast Stations KNLC (Ind., Channel 24), St. Louis, Missouri, and WHSL (Ind. Channel 46), East St. Louis, Illinois (this latter a home shopping station) -- whose audience shares are not significantly greater than those of WCEE. In addition, WCEE argues that TCI is mistaken in stating that WCEE is currently assigned to the Paducah, Kentucky--Cape Girardeau, Missouri--Harrisburg, Illinois--Marion, Illinois DMA. WCEE submits a letter from Nielsen demonstrating that WCEE was reassigned to the St. Louis DMA effective October 1995. 21. In reply, TCI contends that the facts in this case are almost identical to the facts in Charterin which the Commission granted a request to delete communities from WCEE's market. TCI argues that, as was the case in Charter, WCEE has no local presence. TCI reiterates that the station is geographically remote from its systems and that the vast majority of communities served by its systems are beyond WCEE's Grade B contour and distant from Mount Vernon, WCEE's city of license. TCI asserts that carriage of WCEE on its systems would have the effect of extending viewership beyond the area that WCEE reaches through its own off-air transmission. TCI further states that, according to WCEE, a community could never be excluded from an ADI unless the cable system were forced to drop an out-of-ADI station that provides "more local" service to the communities in question. TCI contends that this interpretation of the market modification rules is untenable because, for one, it would be impossible to prove that carriage of one broadcast station necessarily precluded carriage of another broadcast station. Also, citing legislative history, TCI contends that a cable operator's burden in seeking to delete communities from a station's ADI is to point to particularized evidence that the communities are not part of the station's market, which TCI insists it has done in this case. TCI further claims that WCEE's suggestion that it deserves must- carry rights as a "small," "vulnerable" broadcast station is disingenuous given the fact that the station is owned by Paxson Communications, which is one of the largest broadcast owners in the United States. 22. TCI argues that WCEE has failed to adequately refute its arguments for deletion under the four market modification factors. TCI stresses that WCEE has never been carried on its systems. In response to the station's argument that WCEE's lack of historical carriage should not be controlling nor be given great weight, TCI asserts that the Commission has consistently held that historical carriage will be considered along with the other three market modification factors which, in this instance, weigh in favor of TCI's request. With respect to the provision of local programming, TCI states that WCEE's program offerings, "St. Louis Views" and an agreement to carry some Big Ten Basketball Conference games, are "de minimis at best, amounting to less than an estimated 1% of WCEE's entire broadcast." TCI further argues that WCEE's programming format, which, according to the station, provides an effective advertising platform for local businesses, is not evidence of local programming. TCI cautions that a broadcaster's claim that it offers local programming in the context of a market modification proceeding must be regarded with some skepticism because the broadcaster can change the programming at any time to strengthen its case. As to local coverage of the Communities, TCI maintains that WCEE is entitled to use an LPTV station to deliver a technically adequate signal to cable headends if WCEE otherwise qualifies for must-carry status. But, according to TCI, WCEE cannot rely on LPTV stations to satisfy the coverage requirement of the market modification test. TCI asserts that while WCEE attempts to discount TCI's carriage of other St. Louis ADI stations, WCEE fails to recognize that all of the local commercial stations place at least a Grade B contour over nearly all of the Communities. Finally, TCI observes that WCEE has virtually no audience share in the St. Louis area. TCI argues that WCEE's suggestion that viewing patterns should be ignored in this case because WCEE is a "struggling independent station" is contrary to the statutory standard and Commission precedent. TCI further asserts that there is no support for WCEE's characterization of itself as a struggling independent station. TCI contends that WCEE should not be entitled to special status by virtue of its programming format of primarily infomercials coupled with some religious and syndicated programming. ANALYSIS AND DECISION 23. We shall grant in part and deny in part TCI's request for modification of WCEE's ADI market of St. Louis, Missouri. We believe that TCI's deletion petition is a legitimate request to redraw ADI boundaries to make them congruous with market realities. Based on the geography and the four statutory factors, we find that the majority of cable communities in question are sufficiently removed from WCEE that they ought not be deemed part of the station's market for mandatory carriage purposes. Specifically, TCI has made a persuasive case that the communities at issue in the counties of St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson, Missouri as well Madison, Illinois are not logically part of WCEE's market. There is insufficient evidence, however, to justify exclusion of the communities located in the counties of St. Clair and Clinton, Illinois from WCEE's ADI. We believe that our decision herein comports with, and helps effectuate, Section 614 of the 1992 Cable Act. We further believe that Congress included a deletion provision in Section 614(h) so that market anomalies as presented in this case could be properly rectified. 24. Turning to the four-part market modification test set forth in Section 614, it is evident -- and not disputed -- that WCEE has no history of carriage with respect to any of the communities in question. Moreover, this lack of carriage history exists despite WCEE having been broadcasting for more than fourteen years. Regarding the provision of locally oriented programming, we agree with TCI that the amount of local interest programming provided to residents of the Communities by WCEE is insufficient to support the station's opposition to market modification. Currently, it appears that WCEE airs only one program, for one hour, once a week, entitled "St. Louis Views" that is arguably of local interest to the Communities. Although WCEE expresses its hope that somewhat less than half of its air time devoted to program-length presentations will be acquired by national and local businesses and community organizations within two years, the station provides no specific examples of any such presentations tailored to the communities in question today. In addition, WCEE's coverage of Big Ten Men's Basketball games is not programming that is specifically geared to residents in the Communities. We cannot conclude that a station must be considered "local," as Congress intended that term to mean in Section 614 of the 1992 Cable Act, solely by airing some occasional programming associated with some of the communities in question. Programming is considered in the context of Section 614 proceedings only insofar as it serves to demonstrate the scope of a station's market and service area, not as a quid pro quo that guarantees carriage or as an obligation that must be met to obtain carriage. WCEE asks that we take into consideration its future programming commitments. For the purposes of determining whether a station is local to a specific market at a given point in time, our focus is on the programming actually being aired. We are unable to base our market modification decision on programming that may or may not be aired at some future date. The lack of actual, targeted programming in this case weighs against WCEE in our analysis. 25. Regarding viewing patterns, it is apparent -- and not disputed -- that WCEE has virtually no over-the-air audience in the communities in question. A compilation of Nielsen Daypart Summary data for the St. Louis DMA from February 1994 through February 1996 reveals that WCEE has virtually no ratings from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and for the primetime hours of 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Furthermore, WCEE in not even listed in the Nielsen Station Index, County/Coverage Study, 1996, with respect to any of the counties containing the communities in question, except for Clinton. 26. Another factor to consider in market deletion cases is the availability of other broadcasters in the market. We reject WCEE's argument that carriage of other local stations should not be considered in evaluating a cable operator's deletion request. The notion that this factor should not be examined in the instant proceeding is contrary to the statutory directive. The 1992 Cable Act specifically provides that, in considering requests to either include or exclude communities from a station's television market, the Commission shall take into account factors such as the carriage of other local stations by a cable operator to the communities at issue. We have also stated, and reiterate here, that where a cable operator is seeking to delete a station's mandatory carriage rights in certain communities within its ADI, and it is clear that the station is not providing local service to those communities, the issue of local coverage by other stations becomes a factor to which we will give greater weight than in cases where a party is seeking to add communities. WCEE insists that such reasoning is inconsistent with our decision in a prior deletion case in which we held that "we do not believe the enhancement criterion should be used by a cable operator to bolster its request to delete communities from a station's television market whenever it could show that other stations in the market serve the cable communities." In using such language, we were asserting that a cable operator seeking to delete communities from a station's market could not simply point to the fact that it carried other local stations and, by that fact alone, satisfy its burden of proof. In other words, a cable operator's deletion request will not automatically be granted "whenever" it can show that it carries other local stations. Rather, carriage of other local stations may be used as an enhancement factor to support a cable operator's deletion request when there is other evidence in the record that the communities at issue are outside of the station's market. In the present case, TCI carries numerous network affiliated and independent stations licensed to communities in the St. Louis ADI which provide coverage of local news and events, as well as local origination and local access channels. 27. We find that local service availability from a technical point of view and geography are decisive factors delineating the station's market in this particular case. WCEE does not provide Grade B contour coverage to the communities at issue in Madison, Illinois and St Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties, Missouri. These communities are geographically more distant from WCEE's city of license, Mount Vernon, Illinois, than are the communities at issue in St. Clair and Clinton counties. While WCEE may use a low power television station to deliver its signal to the cable communities, its presence does not lessen the relevance, in a market modification proceeding, of the principal station's failure to place a Grade B contour over the subject communities as Grade B coverage is indicative of the station's natural market. Low power television stations are secondary service stations that are explicitly not entitled to carriage in their own right. In addition, with the exception of Madison County and a handful of communities in St. Clair, the communities that are not covered by WCEE's Grade B contour are also located in a different state from WCEE's city of license. The communities in Missouri are also removed from WCEE because they lie on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from the station's city of license. While we are aware that travel and commerce flow across the river, we note that the river coincides with the state boundaries of Missouri and Illinois. These geographic features and lack of Grade B contour coverage, combined with lack of historic carriage, dearth of audience, and availability of other local stations persuade us that the communities in the counties of Madison, Illinois, and St Charles, St. Louis and Jefferson, Missouri are not logically part of WCEE's market. We deny TCI's deletion request with respect to the communities in the counties of St. Clair and Clinton, Illinois. These communities are on the fringe of, or are covered by, WCEE's Grade B contour and lie on the same side of the Mississippi River and in the same state as does WCEE's city of license, Mount Vernon. In addition, these communities are closer in distance to Mount Vernon than are the communities at issue in Madison, Illinois and St Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties, Missouri. 28. WCEE argues that there is a strong presumption of carriage throughout a station's ADI. WCEE, apparently, would have us ignore the four statutory factors set forth in the market modification provisions and rely on this presumption. For instance, as noted above, the station asserts that the availability of other local stations in the market should not be considered in this case. In addition, WCEE discounts the lack of historical carriage and non-existent viewership as insignificant to our decision. Section 614(h) of the 1992 Cable Act, however, specifically and unambiguously directs the Commission, in considering requests for market modification, to afford particular attention to the value of localism by taking into account these factors. WCEE argues that the only circumstance in which deletion of a local station would enhance localism is where a cable system is unable, in the absence of deletion, to carry the signal of another station that is outside of the ADI market and that provides demonstrably more local service. WCEE attempts to clarify this argument by adding that the statutory language indicates the market deletion provisions are to be used only when deletion of a station's must carry rights is found to "better effectuate" the purposes of the 1992 Cable Act. We find these interpretations of Section 614(h) of the 1992 Cable Act and the Commission's implementing rules regarding the filing of market deletion requests too restrictive and without a sufficient basis in either the legislative history, the words of the statute, or the Commission's implementing regulations. The statute, on its face, does not limit market deletion requests only to those situations where an out-of-the-market station is more deserving of carriage than an in-market station. There is also no language in either the legislative history of Section 614(h) or the Commission's rules directly supporting the station's viewpoint. To the contrary, WCEE ignores Congress' directive allowing either broadcasters or cable operators to ask for market modifications so that a station's ADI could better reflect the economic market at hand. MUST-CARRY COMPLAINT 29. Section 614 of the Communications Act and the Commission's implementing rules permit stations to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within their market. We agree with WCEE that the must-carry rules seek to ensure cable carriage of local stations in order to strengthen their economic viability and thereby allow for greater diversity in programming. The prerequisite for asserting must-carry rights with respect to a particular cable system, however, is that the operator serve communities in the station's market or ADI. WCEE filed a must-carry complaint against TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc., seeking carriage on the cable operator's Imperial and St. Peters systems which serve communities in Missouri. The communities served by these systems have been deleted from WCEE's ADI by this Memorandum Opinion and Order. Because we have granted TCI's petition to delete communities in the counties of St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson, Missouri as well as Madison, Illinois from the ADI of WCEE, the associated petition filed by WCEE for mandatory carriage is rendered moot. ORDERING CLAUSES 30. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to 614(h) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 534, and 76.59 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 76.59, that the petition for special relief (CSR-4912-A) filed on behalf of TCI Illinois, Inc., St. Louis Tele- Communications, Inc., and TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc., seeking modification of WCEE's ADI of St. Louis, Missouri IS GRANTED with respect to the cable communities located in the counties of Madison, Illinois, and St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson, Missouri, and IS DENIED in all other respects. Additionally, IT IS ORDERED that the Must-Carry Complaint (CSR-4985-M) filed by Paxson St. Louis License, Inc., licensee of television station WCEE, on March 26, 1997, IS DISMISSED. 31. WCEE shall notify TCI Illinois, Inc., St. Louis Tele-Communications, Inc., and TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc. in writing of their carriage and channel position elections (76.56, 76.57, 76.64(f) of the Commission's Rules) within thirty (30) days of the release date of this Memorandum Opinion and Order. TCI Illinois, Inc., St. Louis Tele-Communications, Inc., and TCI Cablevision of Missouri, Inc. shall come into compliance with the applicable rules within sixty (60) days of such notification. 32. 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 Services Bureau APPENDIX TCI CABLEVISION OF MISSOURI, INC. Community County CUID # Arnold Jefferson MO0350 Crystal City Jefferson MO0353 Desoto Jefferson MO0356 Festus Jefferson MO0352 Herculaneum Jefferson MO0355 Hillsboro Jefferson MO0357 Jefferson County Jefferson MO0359 Peveley Jefferson MO0354 Hazelwood St. Louis MO0080 St. Charles St. Charles MO0157 O'Fallon St. Charles MO0261 St. Charles County St. Charles MO0163 Cottleville St. Charles MO0616 Dardenne Prairie St. Charles MO0927 St. Peters St. Charles MO0179 TCI CABLE PARTNERS OF ST. LOUIS, L.P. Lake St. Louis St. Charles MO0490 St. Charles St. Charles MO0491 Wentzville St. Charles MO0891 St. Paul St. Charles MO0892 O'Fallon St. Charles MO0948 Flint Hill St. Charles MO0949 Dardenne Praire St. Charles MO0950 Weldon Spring St. Charles MO0951 Weldon Spring Heights St. Charles MO0987 St. Louis Area B St. Louis MO0292 Maryland Heights St. Louis MO0586 Chesterfield St. Louis MO0913 Creve Coeur St. Louis MO0988 Hazelwood St. Louis MO1033 St. Ann St. Louis MO0338 Edmundson St. Louis MO0339 University City St. Louis MO0370 Overland St. Louis MO0371 Breckenridge Hills St. Louis MO0372 Clayton St. Louis MO0373 Brentwood St. Louis MO0374 Maplewood St. Louis MO0404 Community County CUID # Jennings St. Louis MO0340 Bellefontaine Neighb St. Louis MO0341 Country Club Hills St. Louis MO0342 Flordell Hills St. Louis MO0343 Moline Acres St. Louis MO0344 Riverview St. Louis MO0345 Northwoods St. Louis MO0346 Pine Lawn St. Louis MO0347 ST. LOUIS TELE-COMMUNICATIONS, INC. St. Louis St. Louis MO0545 TCI CABLE PARTNERS OF ST. LOUIS, L.P. New Baden Clinton IL0742 Trenton Clinton IL0744 Aviston Clinton IL0745 Albers Clinton IL0956 Clinton Clinton IL0957 Damiansville Clinton IL1154 Scott Air Force Base St. Clair IL0448 Shiloh St. Clair IL0548 Lebanon St. Clair IL0549 Freeburg Twp. St. Clair IL0675 New Baden St. Clair IL0743 St. Clair St. Clair IL0746 Mascoutah St. Clair IL0834 Summerfield St. Clair IL0958 Belleville St. Clair IL0564 Swansea St. Clair IL0565 Caseyville Twp. St. Clair IL0566 Stookey Twp. St. Clair IL0568 Fairview Heights St. Clair IL0569 O'Fallon St. Clair IL0570 O'Fallon Twp. St. Clair IL0571 TCI OF ILLINOIS, INC. Alton Madison IL0174 Bethalto Madison IL0227 East Alton Madison IL0172 Godfrey Madison IL1603 Hartford Madison IL0228 Community County CUID # Madison County Madison IL0580 Roxana Madison IL0229 South Roxana Madison IL0577 Wood River Madison IL0173 Alorton St. Clair IL1186 Centreville St. Clair IL1187 East St. Louis St. Clair IL0504 St. Clair County (NW) St. Clair IL1641 Cahokia St. Clair IL0503