Rehr Critical Of Cable Lawsuit

REHR CRITICAL OF CABLE LAWSUIT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr is accusing C-SPAN and other major programmers of trying to scuttle the digital television transition by going to court to overturn federal regulations helpful to some TV stations. In the letter, Rehr did not explain how cable’s lawsuit could derail the transition when the FCC’s rules kick in on the first day after completion of the transition. But Rehr said dual carriage is necessary because “many small, foreign language and religious broadcast stations will go dark on some cable systems after the transition, disenfranchising millions of dedicated viewers …” Rehr’s implication was that without the FCC’s rules, cable operators could drop local TV stations after the transition. In fact, absent a dual carriage requirement, cable operators would still need to carry must carry stations in digital after the transition. To see the channel, analog cable homes would need to spend a few dollars a month to lease a digital set-top box from the cable company ­ just like people today need to buy an analog TV set to see analog cable services.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6529624.html?nid=4262