FCC Officially Nixes Double-Dishing
Satellite-TV Providers Cannot Split Carriage of Local-TV-Station Signals on Two Dishes
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/24/2007 8:23:00 AM MT
The Federal Communications Commission concluded that satellite-TV companies cannot split up carriage of local-TV-station signals on two dishes.
The commission Friday vacated its earlier declaratory ruling that had found that EchoStar Communications’ requiring of multiple antennas to receive all local-TV-station signals was discriminatory, but that wrongly offered EchoStar remedial options rather than banning outright the two-dish approach.
"We vacate the ruling to the extent that it said that split-market carriage could be lawful," the FCC said.
The decision is, in essence, a housekeeping move that squares the FCC with Congress, which, in 2004, changed the Satellite Home Viewer Reauthorization Act to prohibit the two-dish delivery of local stations.
The FCC also dismissed petitions by the National Association of Broadcasters taking issue with its initial declaratory ruling, saying that they were now moot.
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