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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 the Matter of: ) ) SAH Acquisition Corporation II ) ) vs. ) CSR-5264-M ) National Cable ) ) Request for Mandatory Carriage ) of Television Station WOAC-TV, ) Canton, Ohio ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: September 22, 1998 Released: September 24, 1998 By the Acting Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau: 1. SAH Acquisition Corporation II ("SAH"), licensee of television broadcast station WOAC-TV, Canton, Ohio ("WOAC-TV" or the "Station"), has filed a must-carry complaint with the Commission, pursuant to Sections 76.7 and 76.61 of the Commission's rules, claiming that National Cable ("National") has failed to commence carriage of WOAC-TV on National's system serving Winesburg, Ohio and the surrounding areas (the "cable communities") as required by Section 614 of the Communications Act and Section 76.56 of the Commission's rules. No opposition to the complaint was filed. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted by the Commission in its Implementation of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Broadcast Signal Carriage Issues, ("Must Carry Order"), 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. SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS 3. WOAC-TV asserts that it is entitled to mandatory carriage on National's Winesburg, Ohio cable system because WOAC-TV is a qualified local commercial station as defined under the Commission's must-carry rules. WOAC-TV explains that it is licensed to Canton, Ohio, which is in the Cleveland ADI. WOAC-TV states that National operates a cable television system serving Winesburg and the surrounding areas, which also are within the Cleveland ADI. WOAC-TV contends that because it is located within the same ADI as National, it is entitled to carriage. WOAC-TV asserts that it requested mandatory carriage on National's Winesburg system in a letter dated March 27, 1998. WOAC-TV claims that National did not respond to the March 27, 1998 letter in violation of Section 76.61(a)(2) of the Commission's rules, which requires cable operators to respond in writing to requests for carriage within 30 days of such requests. According to WOAC-TV, it is committed to acquire and install the necessary equipment, if needed, to deliver a good quality signal to National's Winesburg headend. SAH requests that the Commission order National to commence carriage of WOAC-TV's signal on channel 67 of the cable system serving the cable communities. DISCUSSION 4. We grant WOAC-TV's complaint. We find that representations made by the Station demonstrate that it is a local full power commercial television station qualified for carriage on National's system serving Winesburg, Ohio, and the surrounding areas. Both WOAC-TV and National are located in the same ADI of Cleveland. Under the Commission's must-carry rules, cable operators have the burden of showing that a commercial station located in the same television market as a cable operator is not entitled to carriage. National did not respond within 30 days to SAH's letter requesting carriage of WOAC-TV as required by the Commission's rules nor did it file an opposition to WOAC-TV's must-carry complaint. National, therefore, has not presented any evidence that WOAC-TV is not entitled to carriage on its system. 5. One exception to the carriage requirement is that the cable operator need not afford must-carry status to an otherwise qualified local commercial television station if the station fails to provide a good quality signal to the system's principal headend. We find that WOAC-TV has satisfied the criteria for carriage by committing to acquire and install all the equipment necessary to deliver a good quality signal to National's Winesburg headend. The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 requires only that a station "agree to be responsible for the costs of delivering to the cable system a signal of good quality." In this case, WOAC-TV has agreed to be responsible for installing all specialized equipment necessary to deliver a good quality signal to National's Winesburg headend. Thus, we conclude that WOAC-TV is entitled to carriage on National's system serving Winesburg, Ohio and the surrounding areas. 6. Concerning WOAC-TV's channel positioning request, we find that it has properly requested carriage on channel 67 on National's cable system, the same channel number on which it is broadcast over-the- air. Under our rules, cable operators must comply with the channel positioning requirements absent a compelling technical reason. ORDERING CLAUSES 7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C.  534), that the complaint filed by SAH Acquisition Corporation II IS GRANTED. National Cable IS ORDERED to commence carriage of television station WOAC-TV on channel 67 of its cable system serving Winesburg and Walnut Creek, Ohio within sixty (60) days from the date that station WOAC-TV delivers a good quality signal. 8. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated under  0.321 of the Commission's rules. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Deborah E. Klein, Acting Chief Consumer Protection and Competition Division Cable Services Bureau