Federal Communications Commission DA 98-2219
Before the
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of: )
)Complaint of Reading 
Broadcasting, Inc. ) CSR-5258-M 
against Comcast Cablevision of ) 
Gloucester County )
) Request for 
Carriage )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER 
Adopted: October 29, 1998 Released: November 3, 1998
By the Acting Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau:
INTRODUCTION
1. Reading Broadcasting, Inc., licensee of Television Broadcast Station WTVE (Ind., Ch. 51), 
Reading, Pennsylvania, has filed a must carry complaint against Comcast Cablevision of Gloucester 
County ("Comcast") for that cable operator's failure to carry WTVE on its system serving Woodbury, New 
Jersey. 1 An opposition to this complaint was filed on behalf of Comcast to which WTVE replied.2
BACKGROUND
2. Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted by the 
Commission in its Implementation of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 
1992 ("Must Carry Order"), 3 commercial television broadcast stations are entitled to assert mandatory 
carriage rights on cable systems located within the station's market. A station's market for this purpose 
is its "area of dominant influence," or ADI, as defined by the Arbitron audience research organization.4
'According to Comcast, its Woodbury system also serves the communities of Westville, Deptford, National Park, 
West Deptford, Woodbury Heights, Clayton, Glassboro, Mantua, Wenonah, East Greenwich, Paulsboro and 
Greenwich, New Jersey.
2At the time it filed its reply, WTVE filed a motion to strike Comcast's opposition as WTVE was not supplied 
with a copy at the time the opposition was filed. In view of the fact that we are considering Comcast's arguments 
herein, we reject WTVE's motion to strike.
38 FCC Red 2965, 2976-2977 (1993).
4Section614(h)(l)(C) of the Communications Act, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provides 
that a station's market shall be determined by the Commission by regulation or order using, where available, 
commercial publications which delineate television markets based on viewing patterns. See47 U.S.C. §534(h)(l)(C). 
Section 76.55(e) of the Commission's rules provides that the ADIs to be used for purposes of the initial 
implementation of the mandatory carriagerules are those published in Arbitron's 1991-1992 Television Market Guide. 
The Commission recently concluded that it was appropriate to switch market definitions from ADIs to Nielsen Media
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SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS
3. In support of its complaint, WTVE states that it is located within the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
ADI, as is Comcast's Woodbury, New Jersey system, and it is thus entitled to must carry status provided 
it delivers a good quality signal to the system's headend. WTVE indicates that, after paying the costs to 
engage a professional tower contractor to temporarily install receiving equipment at the Woodbury 
headend tower, it conducted signal quality tests on March 4, 1997 and found its signal achieved a -35 
dbMv with a carrier-to-noise ration of +49 db. Since this result was within the signal strength criteria 
mandated by the Commission, WTVE states that it requested carriage on Comcast's system by letter dated 
March 5,1997. WTVE states that negotiations then commenced between Comcast and WTVE's principals 
in order to seek a schedule for carriage that would be least disruptive to Comcast and its subscribers, but 
it recently became apparent that these negotiations would not result in carriage. On January 19, 1998, 
WTVE indicates that it sent a certified letter to Comcast requesting expedition of the negotiations, but 
Comcast's response suggested that any further negotiations should wait until the Commission decided a 
pending ADI modification reconsideration filed by WTVE.5 Although WTVE states that it submitted a 
further letter indicating that there were no similar issues between its current must carry request and the 
pending ADI reconsideration and requested the opportunity to permanently install necessary receiving 
equipment, no response was received to that letter, as well as an April 30, 1998 letter informing Comcast 
that it was in violation of the must carry requirements. WTVE therefore requests that the Commission 
order Comcast to commence carriage of its signal.
4. In opposition, Comcast argues initially that WTVE's complaint was not timely filed. Comcast 
points out that although it failed to respond to WTVE's March 5, 1997 request for carriage with 30 days, 
WTVE waited more than a year to file its must carry complaint. Comcast states that §76.61(cX4X»0  f 
the rules indicates that "[N]o must-carry complaint filed pursuant to §76.61(a) will be accepted if filed 
more than sixty (60) days after the date of the specific event described in this paragraph."6 Comcast 
maintains that the "specific event" in this instance was its failure to respond to WTVE's March 5th request 
for carriage. Comcast argues that WTVE missed even a second opportunity to file a timely complaint 
when Comcast responded on February 2, 1998 to WTVE's January 19, 1998 letter reiterating its carriage 
request. In any event, Comcast argues that signal strength tests it performed at its headend indicate that 
WTVE fails to deliver a good quality signal.7 While WTVE may continue to attempt to provide an
Research's designated market areas ("DMAs") for must-carry/retransmission consent elections. See Definition of 
Markets for Purposes of the Cable Television Mandatory Television Broadcast Signal Carriage Rules, Report and 
Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, CS Docket No. 95-178, 11 FCC Red 6201 (1996) ("Market 
Modification Report and Order"). In its Market Modification Report and Order, the Commission decided to use 
Arbitron's 1991-1992 Television ADI Market Guide market designations for the 1996 election and postpone the 
switch to Nielsen's DMAs until the must-carry/retransmission consent election that is to take place on October 1, 
1999. The Commission also issued a Further Notice in its Market Modification Report and Order to solicit 
additional information and provide parties an opportunity to further consider issues relating to the transition to market 
designations based on Nielsen's DMAs.
sSee Garden State Cable TV, (DA 97-2347), released November 10, 1997. 
647 C.F.R.
7Comcast indicates that the best detectable signal it measured was at -25 dBmv (-73 dBm), which is well below 
the Commission's signal strength criteria.
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Federal Communications Commission DA 98-2219
adequate signal, Comcast maintains that it is incorrectly asserting that it currently has a signal of sufficient 
strength for carriage. Finally, Comcast indicates that it is filing under separate cover a petition to modify 
its market to exclude WTVE for must carry purposes.8 Comcast notes that in an ADI petition filed by 
Garden State Cable TV with similar facts and equities, the Commission granted deletion of WTVE.9
5. In reply, WTVE states that after it reported to Comcast on March 4, 1997 that it provided a signal 
which met the signal strength criteria, it requested carriage conditioned on meeting a reasonable Comcast 
demand that the 19-lb receive antenna necessary for WTVE's reception not compromise the system's 
tower integrity. However, WTVE indicates that Comcast failed to provide terms of the requested tower 
analysis, despite further requests to do so. WTVE argues that Comast's contention that the instant 
complaint is untimely is specious in light of the fact that it is clear that WTVE did not assert 
unconditional must carry rights until after negotiations had broken down by April 30, 1998. It points out 
that both the March 5, 1997 and January 19, 1998 letters to Comcast were clearly negotiations about the 
completion of conditions necessary to allow WTVE to be added to the system and not final demands for 
carriage. Likewise, WTVE states that its February 5, 1998 letter to Comcast was merely a response to 
Comcast's suggestion that the negotiations between WTVE and the system be suspended pending the 
Outcome of a reconsideration in a separate ADI modification proceeding. WTVE maintains that it 
provided Comcast with a reasonable period in which to schedule the permanent installation of equipment 
it had been allowed to install temporarily during the testing of its signal and it was only when it was clear 
that Comcast would not pursue the matter that a demand for carriage was ultimately made. In addition, 
WTVE argues that while it tacitly agreed with Comcast that its raw signal, without specialized equipment, 
did not meet Commission signal strength criteria, it has since fully demonstrated that with the use of 
specialized equipment it can deliver a good quality signal to Comcast's principal headend. WTVE points 
out that the Must Carry Order and the statute require no more than that. Finally, WTVE states that the 
alleged filing of an ADI modification petition to seek the exclusion of WTVE from Comcast's system is 
not only irrelevant to the instant complaint, but is also not grounds for denial.
DISCUSSION
6. According to §76.55(e) of the Commission's Rules, commercial television broadcast stations, such 
as WTVE, are entitled to carriage on cable systems located in the same Area of Dominant Influence (or 
"ADI"). 10 WTVE is located in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ADI, which is also where the communities 
served by Comcast. However, Comcast maintains that WTVE is not entitled to such carriage because a) 
the station's must carry complaint was not timely filed, and b) the station does not provide a good quality 
signal to the system's principal headend.
7. We do not agree with Comcast's contention that WTVE's complaint was not timely filed. While 
Comcast maintains that the "triggering event" for the filing of a complaint was its own failure to respond 
to WTVE's March 5, 1997 request for carriage, it is clear from the evidence that there were periodic 
negotiations between Comcast and WTVE regarding the station's carriage from that time until April 1998. 
Therefore, we cannot conclude that there was a clearcut denial of carriage in 1997 and WTVE's filing of
8To date, no such petition has been received.
9As noted in footnote 5, there is a pending reconsideration of this case filed on behalf of WTVE.
I047 C.F.R. §76.55(e).
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Federal Communications Commission DA 98-2219
the instant complaint based on Comcast's failure to respond to the station's April 30, 1998 letter is 
acceptable.
8. Further, while Comcast has provided signal strength tests which in general comply with our 
engineering criteria and appear to indicate that WTVE does not provide a good quality signal, the system 
did not use specialized equipment to receive and evaluate the signal of WTVE. Moreover, the results of 
these tests are radically different from the results achieved by WTVE when it had the opportunity to install 
receiving equipment in March 1997." In any event, we note that WTVE has offered to provide, at its 
own expense, specialized equipment to Comcast to ensure the receipt of a good quality signal at the 
system's headend. WTVE maintains that with the use of specialized equipment it can provide a signal 
to Comcast's headend that is consistent with Commission criteria. The Commission has stated that 
amplifiers and other equipment may be employed to deliver a good quality signal to a cable system 
headend. The Commission, in the Must Carry Clarification Order, 12 after re-emphasizing that it was the 
television station's obligation to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the 
system's principal headend, stated:
This may include improved antennas, increased tower height, microwave relay 
equipment, amplification equipment and tests that may be needed to determine 
whether the station's signal complies with the signal strength requirements ....
WTVE, by committing to provide specialized equipment, satisfies its obligation to bear the costs 
associated with delivering a good signal to Comcast's headend. Consequently, we order Comcast to carry 
WTVE's signal in the event that WTVE provides a good quality signal employing the specialized 
equipment it has offered to install at Comcast's principal headend.
ORDERING CLAUSES
9. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the petition filed June 15, 1998, by Reading Broadcasting, 
Inc. IS GRANTED pursuant to §614(d)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 
§534). Comcast Cablevision of Gloucester County IS ORDERED to commence carriage of WTVE on 
its Woodbury, New Jersey cable system sixty (60) days from the date that WTVE provides a good quality 
signal at Comcast's principal headend. WTVE shall notify Comcast in writing of its carriage and channel
"Since WTVE did not submit a copy of these tests with its complaint, our staff did not have the opportunity 
to review the engineering practices used by WTVE.
128 FCC Red 4142, 4243 (1993).
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position elections (§§76.56, 76.57, and 76.64(f) of the Commission's Rules) within thirty (30) days of 
providing a good quality signal.
10. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by §0.321 of the Commission's Rules.13
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Deborah Klein, Acting Chief
Consumer Protection and Competition Division
Cable Services Bureau
1347 C.F.R. §0.321.
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