******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. 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: ) ) Complaints of Costa de Oro Television, Inc. CSR-4900-M) against: ) ) Falcon Cablevision CA0726) CA0080) CA0249) ) San Simeon Community Cable Inc. CA0953) ) Sonic Cable Leasing Corporation CA0040) CA0778) Request for Signal Carriage ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: May 9, 1997 Released: May 12, 1997 By the Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION 1. Costa de Oro Television, Inc., permittee of Station KSTV (Ind., Channel 57), Ventura, California, on December 30, 1996, filed the captioned signal carriage complaint against Falcon Cablevision ("Falcon"), San Simeon Community Cable Inc. ("SSCC"), and Sonic Cable Leasing Corporation ("Sonic"), operators of cable television systems serving communities located in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties, California. KSTV's petition is opposed by Sonic, and KSTV has replied. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to 4 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 ["1992 Cable Act"] and implementing rules adopted by the Commission in its Report and Order in MM Docket No. 92-259, a commercial television broadcast station is 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. However, there are certain instances where a station primarily serves an ADI other than the ADI in which the station's county of license happens to be located. This is the basis for the Commission's "home county" exception to the standard ADI designation. In this circumstance, the station may assert signal carriage rights in its county of license as well as in the ADI to which the station is assigned by Arbitron. ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES 3. KSTV states in its complaint that it requested carriage on the relevant cable systems, but that in each case KSTV received no response to its carriage request. KSTV notes that the Commission has previously found that KSTV is assigned to the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California ADI by Arbitron, and that the communities in question are located either in Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo Counties, which are within the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California ADI, or in Ventura County, which is KSTV's home county. KSTV states that it qualifies for mandatory carriage on the cable systems in question, and does not understand why Falcon, SSCC, and Sonic refuse to carry the station. 4. Sonic argues in opposition to KSTV that the station fails to deliver an adequate signal to Sonic's headend. Sonic notes that KSTV initially sought carriage on Sonic's system in mid- February 1996, at which time Sonic conducted tests of KSTV's signal strength. Sonic submits signal test results from February 27, March 14, and March 15, 1996, which show that KSTV's signal strength was -54.95 dBm or worse, which is less than the statutory minimum signal strength of -45 dBm to qualify for must-carry status. Sonic states that KSTV has never rebutted this showing. Sonic contends, therefore, that KSTV's complaint should be rejected. 5. KSTV contends in reply that Sonic should not be allowed to rely upon signal test data that is a year old. KSTV further notes that Sonic has terminated KSTV's access to a microwave transmission link owned by Sonic affiliate SFC Transmissions ("SFC") effective March 1, 1997. KSTV states that it has been renting this link for a number of years to feed the station's signal to various cable systems, and suggests that this action is in reprisal for KSTV's request for carriage on Sonic's system. ANALYSIS AND DECISION 6. Falcon has not opposed KSTV's carriage complaint. SSCC, in a late-filed pleading, provides no evidence to warrant denial of KSTV's complaint. With respect to these systems, therefore, KSTV's complaint will be granted. 7. With respect to Sonic's system, however, we will deny KSTV's complaint. Sonic's March 1996 signal strength tests were conducted in accordance with accepted practices, and KSTV has submitted no evidence to rebut these showings, or that KSTV has taken any particular steps to improve its signal strength at Sonic's principal headend. Although KSTV states that it "was prepared to consider taking engineering actions to improve [its] signal strength," this neither rebuts Sonic's showing nor constitutes a guarantee to bear the costs necessary to provide an adequate signal to Sonic's headend. Should KSTV arrange to provide a good quality signal using specialized equipment, Sonic would then be required to carry the station's signal. With regard to SFC's termination of KSTV's access, we note that SFC's letter which KSTV has submitted states that SFC needs the frequency and path for expansion. In any event, Sonic is under no Commission obligation to provide KSTV with microwave service. 8. Rights under the mandatory carriage provisions of the Communications Act are not dependent on the filing of a complaint or prior administrative action by the Commission. Accordingly, the action taken herein is without prejudice to any additional enforcement action that the Commission may take. ORDERING CLAUSES 9. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that the motion to accept filed March 27, 1997 by San Simeon Community Cable Inc. IS DENIED. 10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 534), that the complaint (CSR-4900-M) filed on December 30, 1996, by Costa de Oro Television, Inc. IS GRANTED to the extent indicated at paragraph 6, supra, and in all other respects IS DENIED. Falcon Cablevision and San Simeon Community Cable Inc. ARE ORDERED to commence carriage of Station KSTV within sixty (60) days of the release date of this opinion. 11. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by 0.321 of the Commission's Rules. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Gary M. Laden Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division Cable Services Bureau