FCC Denies Stay of Viewability/Dual Carriage Order

NAB had asked for stay until D.C. circuit could hear its court challenge

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/27/2012 4:11:00 PM

The FCC has denied broadcasters' request for a stay of the FCC's viewability/dual carriage decision that, starting in December, cable operators with hybrid analog/digital systems don't have to deliver must-carry TV stations in both formats.

The FCC voted unanimously in June to lift that requirement.

Broadcasters had been pushing the FCC to extend that requirement another three years, while cable operators said it was time to lift it and give them more capacity to offer other services consumers might want. Both sides were doing hefty lobbying in the run-up to the vote, but cable's arguments held sway in the final order.

On Aug. 1, the National Association of Broadcasters sought a stay of the order until the D.C. Circuit could hear NAB's appeal of the decision. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association opposed the stay.

NAB still has hope. In the Tennis Channel program carriage compliant, Comcast also sought an FCC stay of that decision until the same appeals court could hear its challenge. The FCC denied that stay, but the same D.C. appeals court last week granted its own stay of the FCC decision until it could hear Comcast's challenge.

NAB has asked for a similar stay from the D.C. Appeals court, too, a decision on which had not been made at presstime, according to NAB.