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



In the Matter of:

Aerco Broadcasting, Corp.

v.

BuenaVision CATV

Request for Mandatory Carriage
of Television Station WRWR-TV,
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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CSR-5505-M



                  MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

     Adopted:  May 19, 2000             Released:  May 23, 2000

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

     I.   introduction
1.     Aerco Broadcasting, Corp. ("Aerco"), licensee of television broadcast station WRWR-TV,
San Juan, Puerto Rico ("WRWR" 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 BuenaVision CATV
("BuenaVision") has failed to commence carriage of WRWR on BuenaVision's system serving Caguas,
Aguas Buenas, Cidra, Gurabo, Juncos and San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico ("the cable communities"). No
opposition to the complaint was received.
     II.  background
3.     Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted by the
Commission in 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 "designated market area," or DMA, as defined by Nielsen Media
Research.  A DMA 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 is calculated.  In areas
outside the contiguous 48 states, such as Puerto Rico, station markets are defined using Nielsen's 1991-
1992 DMA Market and Demographic Rank Report, and Puerto Rico is considered a single market.
     IV.  discussion
5.     In support, Aerco asserts that WRWR is entitled to mandatory carriage on the BuenaVision
system serving the cable communities because it is a full power qualified local commercial station as
defined by the Commission's must carry rules.  Aerco explains that WRWR is licensed to San Juan, Puerto
Rico, which is in the San Juan DMA.  Aerco states that BuenaVision operates a cable television system
serving the cable communities, which is also within the San Juan DMA.  Aerco contends that because
WRWR is located within the same DMA as BuenaVision, it is entitled to mandatory carriage on the system
serving the cable communities.  Aerco asserts that WRWR delivers a good signal quality to the system's
headend and that the cable system has ample channel capacity to carry the Station.  Aerco contends that on
December 8, 1999, it formally requested BuenaVision to commence carriage of the WRWR signal on the
cable system.  Aerco claims that BuenaVision did not respond to the December 8, 1999 letter in violation
of Section 76.61(a) of the Commission's rules, which requires cable operators to respond in writing within
30 days of receipt of such requests.  Finally, Aerco requests that the Commission order BuenaVision to
commence carriage of WRWR on its cable system in the San Juan, Puerto Rico DMA.
6.     Under the Commission's 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 mandatory carriage. 
BuenaVision did not file an opposition to Aerco's must carry complaint nor did it respond within 30 days
to Aerco's December 8, 1999 letter.  BuenaVision, therefore, has not presented any evidence that WRWR
is not entitled to carriage on its system serving the cable communities.
     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 Aerco Broadcasting, Corp. IS GRANTED. 
BuenaVision CATV IS ORDERED to commence carriage of television station WRWR-TV on its cable
system serving Caguas, Aguas Buenas, Cidra, Gurabo, Juncos and San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico within sixty
(60) days from the date of this Order.
9.     This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated under Section 0.321 of the Commission's
rules.
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

                              Steven Broeckaert, Acting Chief
                              Consumer Protection and Competition Division
                              Cable Services Bureau