Extent of Analog Cable Subscriptions Debated by NAB, NCTA on Dual Carriage
Broadcasters and cable operators debated analog video’s popularity, commenting on whether so-called FCC dual-carriage rules should sunset June 12 or be extended three years. The NAB and NCTA cited analog subscriber figures, with the first association saying viewability rules for cable carriage of must-carry TV stations’ HD signals ought to be extended because there are still many analog viewers and the second saying they should lapse given the shrinking size of that customer segment. Both associations backed an exemption for small cable operators, though they and the American Cable Association differed on what it should entail.
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The NAB wants small operators to carry broadcasters guaranteed cable distribution in HD if they transmit any channels in that format, a change to the viewability exemption for small systems that last month’s rulemaking notice (http://xrl.us/bmx2hn) asked about. “If a small cable system has the capability of transmitting one or more signals in HD, it should no longer be entitled to a waiver,” the association said (http://xrl.us/bmx2hi). “The Commission should make clear that, even for a small cable system, if it upgrades to carry some signals in HD, it must then also carry local digital television signals in the same way.” The NAB pointed to the “millions of analog receivers” in use to say the rules still meet a need. It said NCTA figures show 22 percent of all basic-cable customers get no digital service.
That figure has dropped considerably in recent years, the NCTA said (http://xrl.us/bmx2h9), with 78 percent of households getting cable buying digital service versus 54 percent when the rules were passed in 2007. “As more and more cable households have opted for digital cable services and are equipped to view digital signals on some or all of their sets, the benefits to consumers and to broadcasters of requiring analog carriage of digital must-carry signals have, as the Commission expected, largely evaporated,” the association said. “Even those customers who have not chosen to purchase the full array of digital services available over full-service digital set-top boxes, now have equipment that enables them to view digitally delivered must-carry signals,” namely digital transport adapters, the NCTA said. It said industry researcher SNL Kagan estimated 27.2 million DTAs were used as of Dec. 31.
The ACA and NCTA said any system with fewer than 2,501 subscribers that’s unaffiliated with a very large multichannel video programming distributor, or with capacity under 553 MHz, should be able to deliver that programming in analog or standard definition as currently allowed. At least 52 companies that belong to ACA that run 385 systems “are still relying on the HD carriage exemption,” the association said. Time Warner Cable, the only company to make initial comments in docket 98-120, said renewed dual carriage requirements won’t be constitutional under strict First Amendment scrutiny because of their burden on operators’ free speech.
The cable industry often refers to the rules first adopted under Kevin Martin’s FCC as mandating dual carriage. “Hybrid systems (including all of TWC’s systems) have to carry must-carry stations in analog and digital format,” Time Warner Cable (http://xrl.us/bmx2g4) noted: “This dual carriage requirement squarely conflicts with the policy underlying Section 614(b)(5)” of the Communications Act “titled ‘duplication not required'” that “explicitly states that a cable operator ’shall not be required’ to carry a signal that ’substantially duplicates’ another must-carry signal.”