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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  News  Media  Contact:  February  10,  2005  Rebecca  Fisher  (202)  418-  2359 
 FCC  RESOLVES  DUAL  AND  MULTICAST  CARRIAGE  ISSUES 
 Washington,  DC  –  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  today  resolved  two  significant  issues  related  to  digital  cable  carriage  in  a  Second  Report  and  Order  and  First  Order  on 
 Reconsideration  (CS  Docket  No.  98-  120).  The  Order:  (1)  affirms  the  Commission’s  tentative  conclusion  not  to  impose  a  “dual  carriage”  requirement  on  cable  operators  (which  would  have 
 required  them  to  simultaneously  carry  broadcasters’  analog  and  digital  signals);  and  (2)  affirms  the  Commission’s  prior  determination  that  cable  operators  are  not  required  to  carry  more  than  a  single 
 digital  programming  stream  from  any  particular  broadcaster. 
 The  Order  found  that  mandatory  dual  carriage  is  not  necessary  either  to  advance  the  governmental  interests  as  identified  by  Congress  and  the  Supreme  Court,  or  to  achieve  the  digital 
 television  transition. 
 With  regard  to  the  digital  multicasting  issue,  the  Commission  affirmed  its  earlier  conclusion  and  declined  to  require  cable  operators  to  carry  any  more  than  one  programming  stream  of  a  digital 
 television  station.  Although  the  Commission  found  that  the  operative  statutory  language  at  issue  is  ambiguous  on  the  subject  of  multicast  must  carry,  it  also  found  on  the  current  record,  that  such  a 
 requirement  is  not  necessary  to  further  the  purposes  of  the  must  carry  statute,  as  defined  by  the  Supreme  Court. 


 In  the  First  Report  and  Order  and  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (CS  Docket  No.  98-  120)  adopted  January  2001,  the  Commission  concluded  that  the  statute  neither  requires  nor 
 prohibits  the  carriage  of  both  a  television  station’s  digital  and  analog  signals,  but  left  the  issue  of  dual  carriage  to  the  discretion  of  the  FCC.  The  FCC  sought  comment  on  its  tentative  conclusion 
 that  a  dual  carriage  requirement  would  violate  the  First  Amendment  rights  of  cable  operators. 
 In  the  First  Report  and  Order  the  Commission  also  found  that  the  statutory  requirement  that  cable  providers  carry  the  ‘primary  video’  of  broadcasters  meant  that  broadcasters  were  entitled  to 
 carriage  of  one  digital  programming  stream,  and  not  multiple  programming  streams  (i.  e.  “multicasting”). 
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 Action  by  the  Commission  February  10,  2005,  by  Second  Report  and  Order  and  First  Order  on  Reconsideration  (FCC  05-  27).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy  and  Adelstein, 
 with  Commissioner  Copps  concurring,  and  Commissioner  Martin  approving  and  dissenting  in  part.  Separate  statements  issued  by  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  Martin,  and 
 Adelstein.  --  FCC-- 


 Media  Bureau  staff  contact:  Ben  Bartolome  (202-  418-  7200)  TTY:  (202)  418-  7172 
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