FCC: LPTVs Can't Demand Satellite Carriage

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

FCC: LPTVs Can't Demand Satellite Carriage

Said differences in cable, satellite regimes are clear in statute

www.nexttv.com

WVUX, Michael Karr, sought FCC review, but was denied according to the article.

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THIS TV Station Won’t Get Mandatory DBS Carriage | Radio & Television Business Report

An LPTV station serving a portion of Northeast West Virginia demanded that Dish Network and DirecTV carry its signal in the DMA serving this section of the state. The DBS providers filed respective opposing statements. Now, the Media Bureau of the FCC has spoken.

www.rbr.com

WVUX-LD FAIRMONT, WV

According to this WVUX-TV is a This TV affiliate on LP.

The Biden administration is telling a federal court that low power TV stations (LPTVs) are not eligible for satellite must-carry and it should reject a challenge to a clear statutory directive to that effect.
That came in a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the court of principal jurisdiction over FCC decisions, filed by the FCC and Justice.

While some low-powers are eligible for cable must-carry, the FCC said the statute is clear that is not the case with satellite even for similarly situated stations.

Cable must-carry applies to full-power TV stations and certain “qualified” LPTVs. To qualify, a low-power station must be within 35 miles of a cable headend and there must be "no full power television broadcast station licensed to any community within the county or other political subdivision … served by the cable system."

 

[Greg Goodfellow]

How many times in broadcast history have weird things happened when political forces intervened? A very prominent U.S. senator (at least for the Biden administration) hails from that area. Just sayin'.

 

[Kelly A]

This isn't anything new, and has been challenged many time under several administrations. LPTV/LD stations haven't been must-carry for cable or satellite since the beginning of must-carry rules.

 

[Red Plume]

This isn't anything new, and has been challenged many time under several administrations. LPTV/LD stations haven't been must-carry for cable or satellite since the beginning of must-carry rules.

LPTV stations can get cable must-carry if there are no full power TV's in their county, if they can get a good signal to the headend, and if they meet the rest of the criteria. It's difficult to qualify, but not impossible.

 

[Kelly A]

LPTV stations can get cable must-carry if there are no full power TV's in their county, if they can get a good signal to the headend, and if they meet the rest of the criteria. It's difficult to qualify, but not impossible.

Sure, and cable companies can wave a must carry, allowing the station to be carried. It's their choice. Satellite is a different animal. They don't have the bandwidth to waste on a LPTV/LD station. Nor do they have to.

 

[Red Plume]

The whole argument is becoming less and less relevant as multichannel providers are losing subscribers. Some markets are now under 40% MVPD. Many markets have more OTA viewers than satellite now.

However-- some networks, like GetTV (and likely ThisTV as mentioned above), pay a certain amount of money to the station per MVPD subscriber, and zero for OTA. Not sure how long that model can last with OTA and OTT increasing.