Cable Notes

Warren's Cable Regulation Monitor
November 1, 1999
Vol. 7, No. 43

Cable industry won't compromise on digital must-carry, NCTA Pres. Robert Sachs told us after luncheon speech to Washington Metropolitan Cable Club Oct. 27. In speech Sachs said duplicative carriage of analog and digital signals never was intended by Congress and would fail test applied by U.S. Supreme Court in Turner case on analog must-carry. Asked whether he had any concessions for FCC, which intends to issue rulemaking by year-end, he said "you'd have to scan my speech pretty hard to find a bone... I don't believe there's a middle position." FCC shouldn't be forced to make hard choice now, though, he said, as there's no statutory timetable requiring action. Citing retransmission consent agreements that have been reached with MSOs Time Warner and AT&T and networks CBS, NBC and Fox, Sachs said "there will be more agreements" in near future. Commission should reexamine DTV market 2-3 years from now to see how it has addressed problem, he said. Former NTIA Deputy Administrator Stuart Brotman will file report this week with FCC, he said, saying retransmission consent is preferred path, and Sachs also noted Sinclair-led effect to have FCC revisit DTV standard. These all are reasons to delay action, he said. In speech, he said each 6 MHz channel devoted to duplicative HDTV dignal would "foreclose the opportunity for multiple digital cable networks to gain carriage." NCTA is in middle of DigiFest, campaign to promote digital cable networks, and Sachs said 25 programming executives of Black Entertainment, Discovery, Ovation and Rainbow Media and others would meet this week with each FCC commissioner and Cable Bureau staff on their plans and on DTV must-carry. Many of networks, he said, are targeting underserved audiences and shouldnˇ¦t be displaced by duplicative, mass-audience network programming. NAB spokesman pointed to Congressional Budget Office study that he said showed "DTV rollout could not be delayed without FCC adoption of a proconsumer must-carry rule." He said FCC "must decide if it is for the gatekeeper or the consumer.