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Court Won't Hear Cablevision/FCC Must-Carry Case

  • Reuters, Wednesday, May 19, 2010 12:14 AM
A U.S. appeals court in New York last year upheld the FCC's decision to require Cablevision's cable systems on Long Island to carry WRNN, a station from upstate New York that broadcasts mostly home-shopping programing. Cablevision then appealed to the Supreme Court. It was supported by various cable TV companies including Time Warner Cable. The High Court will not hear the appeal.

The National Association of Broadcasters said the Supreme Court move validates its long-standing assertion that must-carry rules protect the public's access to niche broadcast programing. In the past, broadcasters have let cable companies carry those signals for free, but as advertising rates fell, they have pushed for retrans revenue. The 1992 "must-carry" law required cable operators to devote as much as one-third of their channels to local private and public broadcast stations.

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