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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  1482 
 Before  the 
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of 
 Implementation  of  the  Satellite  Home 
 Viewer  Improvement  Act  of  1999 


 Broadcast  Signal  Carriage  Issues 


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 CS  Docket  No.  00-  96 


 ORDER 
 Adopted:  June  30,  2000  Released:  June  30,  2000 
 By  the  Chief,  Cable  Services  Bureau: 
 1.  In  this  Order,  we  address  two  Motions  for  Extension  of  Time  filed  by  the  ABC,  CBS,  Fox, 
 and  NBC  Television  Network  Affiliates  Associations/  National  Association  of  Broadcasters  (hereinafter 
 “Commercial  Broadcasters”)  and  the  Association  of  America’s  Public  Television  Stations/  Corporation  for 
 Public  Broadcasting/  Public  Broadcasting  Service  (hereinafter  “Noncommercial  Broadcasters”)  on  June  28, 
 2000.  The  two  groups  move  for  an  extension  of  time  in  which  to  file  comments  and  reply  comments  in  the 
 above-  captioned  proceeding.  Comments  are  currently  due  to  be  filed  on  July  7,  2000.  Reply  comments  are 
 currently  due  on  July  28,  2000.  The  two  groups  ask  the  Commission  to  extend  the  comment  and  reply 
 comment  dates  to  July  21,  2000,  and  August  11,  2000,  respectively.  These  Motions  are  unopposed. 


 2.  The  Commercial  Broadcasters  assert  that  good  cause  exists  for  granting  the  request.  They 
 state  that  the  Commission’s  decisions  in  this  proceeding  are  of  critical  importance  to  the  broadcast 
 industry.  They  further  state  that  the  signal  carriage  rules  adopted  by  the  Commission  will  be  pivotal  for  the 
 future  health  of  the  broadcast  industry,  including  the  new  digital  television  service.  The  Commercial 
 Broadcasters  cite  four  specific  reasons  why  the  extension  of  time  request  is  necessary:  (1)  the  current 
 deadline  for  comments  is  three  business  days  before  the  deadline  for  reply  comments  in  the  Commission’s 
 proceeding  regarding  the  technical  standards  for  determining  eligibility  for  satellite-  delivered  network 
 signals  pursuant  to  the  Satellite  Home  Viewer  Improvement  Act;  the  time  devoted  to  preparing  comments 
 in  that  proceeding  greatly  detract  from  preparing  substantive  comments  in  this  proceeding;  (2)  comments 
 and  reply  comments  that  will  be  filed  need  Board  of  Directors’  approval  and  that  process  will  take  time;  (3) 
 the  Fourth  of  July  federal  holiday  imposes  logistical  difficulties  on  individuals  that  will  approve  and  file 
 comments;  and  (4)  a  more  complete  record  can  be  developed  if  the  motion  is  granted.  The  Commercial 
 Broadcasters  also  assert  that  if  the  extension  request  is  granted,  there  will  still  be  almost  sixteen  weeks  for 
 the  Commission  to  consider  all  of  the  pleadings  and  adopt  final  rules. 


 3.  The  Noncommercial  Broadcasters  state  that  the  issues  surrounding  carriage  of  local  public 
 television  stations  on  satellite  carriers  are  “extremely”  important  to  the  public  television  industry.  They 
 state  that  additional  time  to  file  comments  is  necessary  to  engage  in  a  thorough  evaluation  of  the 
 Commission’s  proposals  and  their  likely  impact  on  public  broadcasters,  to  consult  with  the  hundreds  of 
 affected  public  television  stations,  to  seek  engineering  support  regarding  the  technical  underpinnings 
 involved  in  the  issues,  and  to  prepare  comments  based  on  this  evaluation  and  consultation  process. 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  1482 
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 4.  We  believe  that  the  factors  cited  by  the  two  groups  warrant  granting  the  requests,  in  part. 
 We  note  that  the  members  of  these  groups  would  be  particularly  affected  by  the  outcome  of  the 
 Commission’s  determinations  in  this  proceeding.  An  accurate  and  complete  record  that  an  extension  will 
 afford,  can  only  lead  to  a  better  informed  decision  by  the  Commission  in  a  matter  that  will  materially  affect 
 the  rights  of  all  broadcasters.  At  the  same  time,  however,  we  believe  that  a  slightly  shorter  timeframe  to 
 file  comments  and  reply  comments  is  appropriate  given  that  the  Commission  has  a  statutory  deadline  to 
 issue  a  Report  and  Order  in  this  proceeding  by  November  29,  2000.  Therefore,  we  designate  July  14,  2000 
 and  August  4,  2000  as  the  dates  that  comments  and  reply  comments  will  be  due,  respectively.  These  new 
 dates  take  into  account  the  needs  of  the  two  groups’  while,  at  the  same  time,  recognizing  the  Commission's 
 statutory  deadline. 


 5.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  Section  1.  46  of  the  Commission's  rules,  47 
 C.  F.  R.  Section  1.  46,  that  the  Motions  for  an  Extension  of  Time  to  file  comments  and  reply  comments  filed 
 by  the  Commercial  and  Noncommercial  Broadcasters  ARE  GRANTED  IN  PART. 


 6.  IT  IS  FURTHER  ORDERED  that  the  deadline  for  filing  comments  in  this  proceeding  IS 
 EXTENDED  until  July  14,  2000  and  the  deadline  for  filing  reply  comments  IS  EXTENDED  until 
 August  4,  2000. 


 7.  This  action  is  taken  pursuant  to  the  authority  found  in  Sections  4(  i)  and  303(  r)  of  the 
 Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  47  U.  S.  C.  §§  154(  i)  and  303(  r),  and  Sections  0.204(  b),  0.321, 
 and  1.46  of  the  Commission's  Rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.204(  b),  0.321,  and  1.46. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 
 Deborah  A.  Lathen 
 Chief,  Cable  Services  Bureau 
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