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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Souris River Television, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-090
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Metigoshe, North Dakota )
Westhope, North Dakota )
Berthold, North Dakota )
Sherwood, North Dakota )
Granville, North Dakota )
Carpio, North Dakota )
Donnybrook, North Dakota )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: May 29, 2002 Released: May 31, 2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Souris River Television, Inc.
(``SRT'') temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) of
the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the seven above-
captioned cable television systems. Section 11.11(a) requires
cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a
headend to either provide national level Emergency Alert
System (``EAS'') messages on all programmed channels or
install EAS equipment and provide a video interrupt and audio
alert on all programmed channels and EAS audio and video
messages on at least one programmed channel by October 1,
2002.1
2. The Cable Act of 1992 added new Section 624(g) to the
Communications Act of 1934 (``Act''), which requires that
cable systems be capable of providing EAS alerts to their
subscribers.2 In 1994, the Commission adopted rules requiring
cable systems to participate in EAS.3 In 1997, the Commission
amended the EAS rules to provide financial relief for small
cable systems.4 The Commission declined to exempt small cable
systems from the EAS requirements, concluding that such an
exemption would be inconsistent with the statutory mandate of
Section 624(g).5 However, the Commission extended the
deadline for cable systems serving fewer than 10,000
subscribers to begin complying with the EAS rules to October
1, 2002, and provided cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
subscribers the option of either providing national level EAS
messages on all programmed channels or installing EAS
equipment and providing a video interrupt and audio alert on
all programmed channels and EAS audio and video messages on at
least one programmed channel.6 In addition, the Commission
stated that it would grant waivers of the EAS rules to small
cable systems on a case-by-case basis upon a showing of
financial hardship.7 The Commission indicated that waiver
requests must contain at least the following information: (1)
justification for the waiver, with reference to the particular
rule sections for which a waiver is sought; (2) information
about the financial status of the requesting entity, such as a
balance sheet and income statement for the two previous years
(audited, if possible); (3) the number of other entities that
serve the requesting entity's coverage area and that have or
are expected to install EAS equipment; and (4) the likelihood
(such as proximity or frequency) of hazardous risks to the
requesting entity's audience.8
3. SRT filed a request for temporary, 36-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) for the seven captioned cable systems on
March 8, 2002. In support of its waiver request, SRT states
that these are small, rural cable systems which together serve
approximately 658 subscribers, with five systems serving fewer
than 100 subscribers. Based on a price quote provided by an
EAS equipment manufacturer, SRT estimates that it would cost
approximately $7,570 for EAS equipment for each of these
systems plus installation for a total cost of $63,490. SRT
asserts that this cost will impose a substantial financial
hardship on it and provides its financial statements for 2000
and 2001 in support of this assertion. In addition, SRT
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, SRT notes that
its subscribers currently have access to national EAS messages
on between 50 and 80 percent of all programmed channels. SRT
also asserts that its subscribers will have access to EAS
information through over-the-air reception of broadcast
television and radio stations. Finally, SRT believes that it
will be able to fund EAS equipment for the seven systems in
the next three years.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by SRT, we conclude that temporary, 36-
month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the seven captioned
systems are warranted.9 In particular, we find that the
estimated $63,490 cost for EAS equipment for these small cable
systems could impose a financial hardship on SRT.
5. We note that the Commission recently amended the EAS
rules to permit cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
subscribers to install FCC-certified decoder-only units,
rather than both encoders and decoders, if such a device
becomes available.10 Based on comments from equipment
manufacturers, we anticipate that such a decoder-only system
could result in significant cost savings to small cable
systems.11
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,12 Souris River
Television, Inc. IS GRANTED waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules until October 1, 2005 for the seven captioned cable
television systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Souris River Television,
Inc. place a copy of this waiver in its system files.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for Souris River Television, Inc., Christopher C. Cinnamon,
Esq., Cinnamon Mueller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020,
Chicago, Illinois 60601.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. § 11.11(a).
2 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of
1992, Pub. L. No. 102-385, § 16(b), 106 Stat. 1460, 1490 (1992).
Section 624(g) provides that ``each cable operator shall comply
with such standards as the Commission shall prescribe to ensure
that viewers of video programming on cable systems are afforded
the same emergency information as is afforded by the emergency
broadcasting system pursuant to Commission regulations ....'' 47
U.S.C. § 544(g).
3 Amendment of Part 73, Subpart G, of the Commission's Rules
Regarding the Emergency Broadcast System, Report and Order and
Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, FO Docket Nos. 91-171/91-
301, 10 FCC Rcd 1786 (1994) (``First Report and Order''),
reconsideration granted in part, denied in part, 10 FCC Rcd 11494
(1995).
4 Amendment of Part 73, Subpart G, of the Commission's Rules
Regarding the Emergency Broadcast System, Second Report and
Order, FO Docket Nos. 91-171/91-301, 12 FCC Rcd 15503 (1997)
(``Second Report and Order'').
5 Id. at 15512-13.
6 Id. at 15516-15518.
7 Id. at 15513.
8 Id. at 15513, n. 59.
9 The waivers for the four systems will extend 36 months from
October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2005. SRT also specifically
requested waiver of the testing and monitoring requirements of
the EAS rules for these seven systems. We clarify that the
waivers we are granting also encompass the EAS testing and
monitoring requirements.
10 Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission's Rules Regarding
the Emergency Alert System, EB Docket 01-66, FCC 02-64 at ¶ 71
(released February 26, 2002).
11 One manufacturer estimated that an EAS decoder-only system
can reduce the cost by 64% over what a cable operator would spend
for an encoder/decoder unit. Id. at ¶ 70.
12 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.