Barton, Upton Hear It From Religious Broadcasters

BARTON, UPTON HEAR IT FROM RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Religious broadcasters, allied as the Religious Voices in Broadcasting, have written House Commerce Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) and Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) asking them to rethink their opposition to a move by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to grant broadcasters digital multicast must-carry. Saying "not one religious broadcaster has been able to secure carriage of any multistream channels," the broadcasters also asked for a meeting with them "in the near future" about what they said was their single biggest legislative issue Saying it is "rare" for them to ask for support on a technical issue, the broadcasters took the legislators to task for not giving religious broadcasters' views "the consideration that we feel they deserve." The religious station owners argue that requiring cable to carry all of a station's digital channels, rather than a single duplicate of their primary analog channel -- as the FCC earlier concluded was its mandate from Congress -- is "the single most important factor in making the digital transition a success."
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