STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. McDOWELL Re: Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals: Amendment to Part 76 of the Commission’s Rules, Implementation of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999; Local Broadcast Signal Carriage Issues and Retransmission Consent Issues, CS Docket No. 00- 96, CSR-5978-M, Second Report and Order, Memorandum and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking In this Order, the Commission requires DBS operators to carry each station in a local market on the same terms, including carriage of HD signals in HD format, if any broadcaster in the same market is carried in HD. I am pleased that we have adopted a plan that permits DirecTV and Echostar to come into compliance with this requirement within four years after the digital transition, with benchmarks that must be met at the end of each year. This approach balances the public interest in ensuring that satellite customers reap the benefits of digital technology with the business planning and technical needs of the operators. By our calculations, the compliance schedule is aggressive but achievable. I look forward to the results for viewers. I thank the Media Bureau for their hard work on this Order.