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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 Complaint of: ) ) Aerco Broadcasting Corp. ) ) v. ) CSR-5226-M ) Cable TV of Greater San Juan ) ) Request for Carriage of WRWR-TV ) ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION Adopted: February 9, 1999 Released: February 16, 1999 By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. Cable TV of Greater San Juan ("Cable TV"), operator of a cable television system serving San Juan and neighboring areas, filed a Petition for Partial Reconsideration requesting that the order for carriage of television broadcast station WRWR-TV issued in Aerco Broadcasting Corp. v. Cable TV of Greater San Juan ("Bureau Order") be modified and made conditional upon station WRWR-TV providing a good quality signal to the principal headend of its cable system. Aerco Broadcasting Corp. ("Aerco"), licensee of station WRWR-TV, San Juan, Puerto Rico, filed an opposition to the petition, and Cable TV filed a reply. II. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 ("1992 Cable Act"), and implementing rules adopted by the Commission in Implementation of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 Report and Order in MM Docket 92-259 ("Must Carry Order"), commercial television broadcast stations are entitled to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within the station's market. Station markets in Puerto Rico are defined using Nielsen's 1991-1992 DMA Market and Demographic Rank Report, as are all areas outside the contiguous 48 states. Therefore, for the purpose of this proceeding, stations' markets are defined by a "Designated Market Area," or DMA, as defined by the Nielsen audience research organization. III. DISCUSSION 3. Under the Commission's must-carry rules, cable operators have the burden of showing that a commercial station that is located in the same television market is not entitled to carriage. One method of doing so is for a cable operator to establish that a subject television station's signal, which would otherwise be entitled to carriage, does not provide a good quality signal to a cable system's principal headend. Should a station fail to provide the requisite over-the-air signal quality to a cable system's principal headend, it still may obtain carriage rights because under our rules a television station may provide a cable operator with specialized equipment, at the station's expense, which will improve the station's signal to an acceptable quality at a cable system's principal headend. 4. The Bureau Order found that television station WRWR-TV is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in the San Juan DMA; that the cable system operated by Cable TV serving San Juan and neighboring communities is also located in the San Juan DMA; and that WRWR-TV delivers a good quality signal to the principal headend of Cable TV's cable system. Based on those findings, the Bureau Order concluded that WRWR-TV is a local television station qualified under the provisions of 47 C.F.R.  76.55(c) for carriage on Cable TV's cable system, and ordered Cable TV to commence carriage of television station WRWR-TV on its cable systems serving San Juan, Puerto Rico and neighboring communities within sixty (60) days of the release of that order. As noted above, Cable TV requests that the Bureau Order be made conditional upon WRWR-TV providing a good quality signal to the principal headend of its cable system. 5. Subsequent to the filing of the Petition for Partial Reconsideration, Hurricane George struck Puerto Rico, causing damage to station WRWR-TV facilities and interrupting its operations. On November 4, 1998, Aerco submitted information through its counsel indicating that station WRWR-TV had returned to operations utilizing "currently licensed facilities at its licensed site." The test results submitted by the parties for the purpose of determining whether station WRWR-TV delivered a good quality signal to Cable TV's principal headend were based on licensed facilities in operation before Hurricane George struck and not on the rebuilt facilities. Although Aerco represents that WRWR-TV has returned to operations utilizing "currently licensed facilities at its licensed site," the record does not include any test results utilizing the rebuilt facilities. Accordingly, we are unable to determine whether station WRWR-TV presently delivers a good quality signal to Cable TV's principal headend. However, the record shows that Aerco has made a commitment in its opposition to the petition to deliver a good quality WRWR-TV signal to Cable TV's headend either directly off-the-air or by means of specialized equipment provided at its own expense. Also, Cable TV has made a commitment to carry the signal of station WRWR-TV "if and when the station delivers a good quality signal." 6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 534), that the Order in Aerco Broadcasting Corp. v. Cable TV of Greater San Juan, DA 98-1079 (Cable Serv. Bur., released June 9, 1998) IS MODIFIED and Cable TV of Greater San Juan ("Cable TV") IS ORDERED to commence carriage of television station WRWR-TV on its cable systems serving San Juan, Puerto Rico and neighboring communities within sixty (60) days after Aerco Broadcasting Corp. delivers a good quality signal to the principal headend of Cable TV's cable system. 7. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated under Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.321. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William H. Johnson Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau