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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  KATHLEEN  Q.  ABERNATHY 
 General  Motors  Corporation  and  Hughes  Electronics  Corporation,  Transferors,  and  The  News  Corporation  Limited,  Transferee,  For  Authority  to  Transfer  Control,  MB  Docket  No.  03-  124 
 I  write  separately  to  clarify  my  rationale  for  not  supporting  the  imposition  of  a  proposed  condition  to  restrict  DirecTV  from  segregating  some,  but  not  all,  local  broadcast  stations  to  wing 
 satellites.  As  the  Order  specifically  states,  “[  w]  ith  regard  to  APTS/  PBS’s  proposed  condition  to  restrict  DirecTV  from  segregating  local  broadcast  stations  to  wing  satellites,  we  recognize  that  the 
 proposed  transaction  may  give  DirecTV  greater  incentive  to  favor  News  Corp.  ’s  Fox  broadcast  network  programming  and  therefore  to  move  other  broadcasters  onto  other  satellites.  There  is  not 
 a  majority  to  decide  whether  this  increased  incentive  results  in  a  merger  specific  harm.” 
 I  do  not  believe  the  issue  is  merger  specific  because  any  incentive  to  use  wing  satellites  for  some,  but  not  all,  broadcast  stations  is  applicable  to  all  DBS  providers,  not  just  News  Corp.  In  fact,  the 
 National  Association  of  Broadcasters  and  the  Association  of  Local  Television  Stations  filed  a  petition  asking  for  modification  or  clarification  of  the  Commission’s  rules  regarding  carriage  of 
 television  broadcast  stations  by  DBS  providers  in  a  manner  that  requires  subscribers  to  obtain  a  second  satellite  dish  antenna.  1  Since  the  Bureau’s  decision  in  that  matter  is  subject  to  an 
 application  for  review  by  the  full  Commission,  I  believe  that  this  issue  is  best  addressed  in  the  context  of  that  proceeding.  In  the  interim,  the  Bureau’s  decision  provides  that  if  any  DBS 
 provider  chooses  to  carry  local  stations  using  a  second  dish  to  receive  some  those  stations,  it  must  do  so  in  a  manner  that  does  not  violate  Section  76.66  of  our  rules  and  Section  338(  d)  of  the 
 Communications  Act.  2 


 1  See  National  Association  of  Broadcasters  and  Association  of  Local  Television  Stations,  Request  for 
 Modification  or  Clarification  of  Broadcast  Carriage  Rules  for  Satellite  Carriers,  17  FCC  Rcd  6065  (MD,  2002). 
 2  “[  T]  he  satellite  carrier  shall  retransmit  the  signal  of  the  local  television  broadcast  stations  to  subscribers  in 
 the  station’s  local  market  on  contiguous  channels  and  provide  access  to  such  station’s  signals  at  a  nondiscriminatory  price  and  in  a  nondiscriminatory  manner  on  any  navigational  device,  on-  screen  program 


 guide  or  menu.  47  U.  S.  C.  Section  338(  d). 
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