Dakota Broadcasters Ask FCC To Block DirecTV Deal
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/23/2007 9:54:00 AM
A group of North Dakota broadcasters has asked the FCC to deny Liberty’s planned takeover of DirecTV.
In a filing at the FCC Friday--comments on the proposed deal were due--the North Dakota Broadcasters Association and specifically the broadcasters in Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson- (market #158 out of 210) said that the deal should not go through unless Liberty promises to carry them.
Currently DirecTV does not carry local stations in the market, but had promised to eventually do so when it first purchased its interest in the satellite operator. Liberty has not made the same promise in its application, they say, and that silence leads them to conclude it will follow what they say is DirecTV’s current plan to use its capacity to boost HD offerings in big cities rather than deliver local stations in smaller markets where it has yet to do so.
Unlike cable operators, satellite companies are not required to deliver local stations, though if they decide to deliver any in a market they must offer them all.
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The reason DirecTV does not provide locla channels to all 212 markets at this time is most likely due to a lack of bandwidth to carry every station in every market. I would imagine that with the movement of HD programming to their Ka/Ku satellites after D10 is launched this spring, DirecTV will free up space to provide the local channels to the remaining 70 or so markets not served yet. As for the regulation cited, what it means is that DirecTV (and Dish Network) cannot "cherry pick" which stations they carry when they provide local channel service to a market. There may be other reasons that some channels may not be included, such as a station declining to be carried or getting in their must carry request in too late for the application window. If a station elects to go the retransmission consent route, they may not come to an agreement that would gain them carriage on one or the other DBS carrier.
Ed S. - 4/19/2007 1:45:00 AM EDT -
I Live in western North Dakota and Dish Network offers two of the four network stations. Why does Directv not offer any, and based off the article, how can they offer two but not the rest?
Jason - 3/30/2007 10:37:00 AM EDT
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