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

In the Matter of                )
                                )
CVC TV LLC                      )    File No. EB-02-TS-304
                                )
Operator of Cable Systems in:   )
                                )    
Chowchilla, California          )
Planada, California             )
Le Grand, California            )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the     )    
Commission's Rules              )    
                                        
                              ORDER 

Adopted:  January 31, 2003              Released:   February   5, 
2003

By the Chief, Technical  and Public Safety Division,  Enforcement 
Bureau:

1.        In this  Order, we  grant CVC  TV, LLC  (``CVC TV'')  a 
  temporary,  12-month   waiver  of  Section   11.11(a)  of   the 
  Commission's Rules (``Rules'')  for one of the  three-captioned 
  cable  television systems  and temporary,  24-month waivers  of 
  Section  11.11(a)   for  two  of   the  three-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.        CVC TV filed a request for temporary, 24-month  waivers 
  of  Section  11.11(a) for  the  three  small,  captioned  cable 
  systems on  June 4, 2002.   In support of  its waiver  request, 
  CVC TV  states that  the Chowchilla,  California system  serves 
  approximately  1,136   subscribers,  the  Planada,   California 
  system serves approximately  174 subscribers and the Le  Grand, 
  California  system serves  approximately 110  subscribers.   In 
  addition,  CVC TV  states that  it  has implemented  a  capital 
  improvement project  to upgrade its  systems plant and  channel 
  capacity which will enable  it to eliminate the Planada and  Le 
  Grand headends.   CVC TV  asserts that the  cost of  installing 
  EAS equipment for  the three systems will impose a  substantial 
  financial hardship on it and provides financial statements  for 
  2001 and  2002 in support of  this assertion.  CVC TV  believes 
  it can  fully comply with EAS  requirements by 2004.   Finally, 
  CVC  TV subscribers  will  continue  to have  ready  access  to 
  national  EAS information  from  other sources,  including  its 
  cable   systems  and   over-the-air  reception   of   broadcast 
  television and radio stations.

4.        Based upon our review of  the financial data and  other 
  information submitted by CVC TV, we conclude that a  temporary, 
  12-month waiver  of Section  11.11(a) for  one captioned  cable 
  system and temporary, 24-month waivers of Section 11.11(a)  for 
  two captioned  cable systems are  warranted.9   In  particular, 
  we find that the  estimated cost of EAS equipment could  impose 
  a financial hardship of CVC TV.  

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 CVC  TV  LLC  IS 
  GRANTED  a  waiver  of Section  11.11(a)  of  the  Rules  until 
  October 1, 2003 for the cable system in Chowchilla,  California 
  and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules  until 
  October 1, 2004 for the cable systems in Planada and Le  Grand, 
  California.

7.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that CVC TV, LLC place a copy  of 
  this waiver in its systems files.

8.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that  a copy of this Order  shall 
  be sent  by Certified Mail Return  Receipt Requested to  Thomas 
  E. Gelardi,  LLC Manager,  CVC TV, LLC,  375 Woodworth  Avenue, 
  No. 102, Clovis, California, 93612.

                         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 12-month waiver  will extend from October 1, 2002,  until 
October 1,  2003,  and  the 24-month  waivers  will  extend  from 
October 1,  2002,  until  October  1,  2004.    Additionally,  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.