Verizon Argues Against Class-A LPTV Must-Carry

The Federal Communications Commission is getting push-back from cable and telco programmers on its proposal to extend must-carry status to class-A low-power TV stations. Currently, cable operators only have to carry a single class-A low-power, and only if there are a dearth of full-powers in the market to meet the cable must-carry set-aside. The FCC proposed that as part of a package of initiatives to encourage programming diversity and localism. But in comments to the FCC, Verizon Communications argued that granting must-carry status to low-powers would not necessarily promote diversity, and could even harm it by pushing existing channels off the air. Cable's monopoly power has eroded so much that forcing cable systems to carry local TV stations is no longer a legally sustainable policy. The company said that maybe at one time cable operators had market power that government needed to address. But that market power, it added, no longer exists to the extent it did in 1992 when Congress imposed so-called TV station must carry requirements on cable operators.