Chairman Martin Proposes Cable Carriage for New TV Broadcasters

CHAIRMAN MARTIN PROPOSES CABLE CARRIAGE FOR NEW TV BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: DrewClark.com]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday offered two proposals that he said would address concerns about objectionable content and add “access to new voices in the media.” Chairman Martin repeated his proposal to require cable operators to sell television programming a la carte, or on a per-channel basis. The second suggestion, as with the first, would come at the expense of the cable industry. As television broadcasters transition to digital television, the ability to broadcast multiple channels of programming would “provide us an opportunity for others to lease some of that capacity,” said Chairman Martin. “I have actually proposed that we specifically allow [minority and small-businesses] to lease some of that capacity,” he said. “They would be treated just like full power stations,” said Chairman Martin, meaning that they would have the obligation to provide public interest obligations, such as three hours of child-oriented programming in a week. “But they would also have the benefits of cable carriage,” said Chairman Martin. That means that these new television stations would enjoy mandatory carriage on cable system even if their over-the-air signals were extremely limited in their power.
http://www.drewclark.com/2007/08/chairman-martin-proposes-cable-carriage...