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Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554



In the Matter of:

Complaint of Turnpike Television against
Helicon Cablevision

Request for Carriage

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CSR-5446-M

                                
                  MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

       Adopted:  February 7, 2000                    Released: February 10, 2000

By the Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau:

     I.   INTRODUCTION
1.     Turnpike Television, licensee of low power station W35AW (Ch. 35), Uniontown, Pennsylvania,
has filed a must carry complaint against Helicon Cablevision ("Helicon"), for its failure to carry W35AW on
its system serving various communities in Greene County, Pennsylvania.  No opposition to this complaint has
been received.
     II.  BACKGROUND
3.     Section 614(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires the carriage of
"qualified" low power television ("LPTV") stations in certain limited circumstances.  Under Section
76.56(b)(3) of the Commission's rules, promulgated pursuant to Section 614, a cable system that has
insufficient full power television stations to reach its channel set-aside shall carry at least one qualified LPTV
station.  Thus, if a cable system is carrying its full complement of commercial full power stations, it need not
carry an LPTV station.  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 and "the Commission determines that the
provision of such programming by the station would address local news and informational needs which are not
being adequately served by full power television broadcast stations because of the geographic distance of such
full power stations from the low power television station's community of license;"  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 to the principal headend an over-the-air signal of good quality; 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") ranked by population, as determined by the Office of
Management and Budget ("OMB") on June 30, 1990, and the population of the 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.
     IV.  DISCUSSION
5.     In support of its request, W35AW states that Helicon's refusal to carry its signal is unwarranted
because it meets all of the requirements of Section 76.55(d) of the Commission's rules to be a qualified LPTV
station entitled to must carry.  W35AW states that it broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and meets all
of the obligations and requirements applicable to full power television stations.  W35AW also states that it is
duly licensed pursuant to Part 74 of the Commission's rules and is in compliance with the Commission's
interference rules; its transmitter is located within 35 miles of the principal headend for the cable system;
Greene County, the geographic area of the cable system, is located outside of the largest 160 MSAs; and there
are no full power television stations licensed to any community in Greene County, where the cable system is
located.  With regard to its city of license, W35AW notes that Uniontown, Pennsylvania, is located in the U.S.
Census-designated "outlying" portion of the Pittsburgh Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area ("PMSA") in
Fayette County, Pennsylvania.  W35AW argues, however, that because it is only requesting carriage in
neighboring Greene County, which is outside of any MSA, the public interest warrants grant of its carriage.
6.     Contrary to W35AW's contention, we find that it is not a full-qualified LPTV station and deny
its request.  Section 76.55(d)(5) of the Commission's rules requires that the community of license of the
LPTV station and the franchise area of the cable system both be located outside of the largest 160 MSAs.  In
this instance, W35AW's city of license, Uniontown, is located in the Pittsburgh PMSA, which is considered
to be part of the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area
("CMSA"). A CMSA is defined by OMB as a "Level A" MSA in which two or more PMSAs have been
identified.  While OMB does have separate definitions for MSAs, PMSAs, and CMSAs, they are interrelated
concepts.  As a result, Uniontown is considered to be located within the 160 largest MSAs and does not
qualify for carriage on Helicon's cable system serving Greene County, Pennsylvania.
     VII. ordering clauses
8.     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 Turnpike Television IS DENIED.
9.     This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by Section 0.321 of the Commission's rules. 
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                              Deborah E. Klein, Chief
                              Consumer Protection and Competition Division
                              Cable Services Bureau