FCC Releases Small Ops' HD-Waiver Order

The Federal Communications Commission released its order granting small cable operators a three-year exemption from FCC rules requiring cable operators to carry TV stations' HD signals in HD after the Feb. 17, 2009, transition to digital. In 2001, the FCC, to avoid "material degradation" of a broadcaster's signal on cable and the potential for competitive gamesmanship, ruled that a cable "operator may not provide a digital broadcast signal in a lesser format or lower resolution than that afforded to any digital programmer." This meant that if a cable operator carried a cable HD channel in HD, it could not downconvert a broadcaster's HD signal. The FCC concluded that the HD-carriage requirement would be a hardship on smaller operators, which asked for the relief.