******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In re: ) ) Complaint of Paxson Atlanta License, Inc.) CSR-4969-M against ) ) Covington Cable TV ) ) Request for Carriage ) ) Covington Cable TV ) CSR-4992-A ) For Modification of the ADI of ) Station WTLK-TV ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: August 15, 1997 Released: August 22, 1997 By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION 1. Paxson Atlanta License, Inc. ("WTLK-TV"), licensee of Station WTLK-TV (Ind., Channel 14), Rome, Georgia, has filed the above-captioned signal carriage complaint (CSR-4969-M) against Covington Cable TV ("CCTV"), operator of a cable television system serving Covington, Oxford, Porterdale, and surrounding unincorporated areas of Newton County, Georgia. These communities, as is Rome, which is WTLK-TV's city of license, are located in the Atlanta, Georgia area of dominant influence. CCTV has opposed WTLK-TV's complaint, and WTLK-TV has replied. In addition, CCTV has filed the above- captioned petition (CSR-4992-A) to modify the market of WTLK-TV, to remove the communities CCTV serves from the station's market. WTLK-TV has opposed CCTV's petition, and CCTV has replied. We are consolidating these cases for processing to determine the signal carriage rights of WTLK-TV in the communities CCTV serves. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted by the Commission in its Report and Order in MM Docket No. 92-259, commercial television broadcast stations are entitled to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within the station's market. A station's market for this purpose is its "area of dominant influence," or ADI, as defined by the Arbitron audience research organization. An ADI is a geographic market designation that defines each television market exclusive of others, based on measured viewing patterns. Essentially, each county in the United States is allocated to a market based on which home-market stations receive a preponderance of total viewing hours in the county. For purposes of this calculation, both over-the-air and cable television viewing are included. 3. Under the Act, however, the Commission is also directed to consider changes in market areas. Section 614(h)(l)(C) provides that the Commission may: with respect to a particular television broadcast station, include additional communities within its television market or exclude communities from such station's television market to better effectuate the purposes of this section. In considering such requests, the 1992 Cable Act provides that: the Commission shall afford particular attention to the value of localism by taking into account such factors as - (I) whether the station, or other stations located in the same area, have been historically carried on the cable system or systems within such community; (II) whether the television station provides coverage or other local service to such community; (III) whether any other television station that is eligible to be carried by a cable system in such community in fulfillment of the requirements of this section provides news coverage of issues of concern to such community or provides carriage or coverage of sporting and other events of interest to the community; and (IV) evidence of viewing patterns in cable and noncable households within the areas served by the cable system or systems in such community. 4. The legislative history of this provision indicates that: where the presumption in favor of ADI carriage would result in cable subscribers losing access to local stations because they are outside the ADI in which a local cable system operates, the FCC may make an adjustment to include or exclude particular communities from a television station's market consistent with Congress' objective to ensure that television stations be carried in the areas in which they serve and which form their economic market. * * * * [This subsection] establishes certain criteria which the Commission shall consider in acting on requests to modify the geographic area in which stations have signal carriage rights. These factors are not intended to be exclusive, but may be used to demonstrate that a community is part of a particular station's market. 5. The Commission provided guidance in its Report and Order in MM Docket No. 92-259, supra, to aid decision making in these matters, as follows: For example, the historical carriage of the station could be illustrated by the submission of documents listing the cable system's channel line-up (e.g., rate cards) for a period of years. To show that the station provides coverage or other local service to the cable community (factor 2), parties may demonstrate that the station places at least a Grade B coverage contour over the cable community or is located close to the community in terms of mileage. Coverage of news or other programming of interest to the community could be demon- strated by program logs or other descriptions of local program offerings. The final factor concerns viewing patterns in the cable community in cable and noncable homes. Audience data clearly provide appropriate evidence about this factor. In this regard, we note that surveys such as those used to demonstrate significantly viewed status could be useful. However, since this factor requires us to evaluate viewing on a community basis for cable and noncable homes, and significantly viewed surveys typically measure viewing only in noncable households, such surveys may need to be supplemented with additional data concerning viewing in cable homes. 6. As for deletions of communities from a station's market, the legislative history of this provision indicates that: The provisions of [this subsection] reflect a recognition that the Commission may conclude that a community within a station's ADI may be so far removed from the station that it cannot be deemed part of the station's market. It is not the Committee's intention that these provisions be used by cable systems to manipulate their carriage obligations to avoid compliance with the objectives of this section. Further, this section is not intended to permit a cable system to discriminate among several stations licensed to the same community. Unless a cable system can point to particularized evidence that its community is not part of one station's market, it should not be permitted to single out individual stations serving the same area and request that the cable system's community be deleted from the station's television market. 7. In adopting rules to implement this provision, the Commission indicated that requested changes should be considered on a community-by-community basis rather than on a county-by-county basis, and that they should be treated as specific to particular stations rather than applicable in common to all stations in the market. The rules further provide, in accordance with the requirements of the 1992 Cable Act, that a station not be deleted from carriage during the pendency of an ADI change request. ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES 8. Signal Carriage Complaint (CSR-4969-M). WTLK-TV states that its city of license and the communities CCTV serves are all located in the Atlanta ADI, and that WTLK-TV is thus entitled to carriage on CCTV's cable system. WTLK-TV further states that it has promised to pay for any equipment necessary for CCTV to receive a good signal from WTLK-TV at the system's principal headend, but that CCTV has not responded. Accordingly, WTLK-TV requests that the Commission now order CCTV to commence carriage of WTLK-TV's signal. 9. In response to WTLK-TV, CCTV states that it is filing a petition to modify the ADI of WTLK-TV to delete the communities CCTV serves from WTLK-TV's ADI. Accordingly, states CCTV, it need not carry the signal of WTLK-TV pending resolution of this ADI market modification petition. 10. WTLK-TV contends in reply that allowing CCTV to ignore WTLK-TV's requests for carriage and then to allow the system to continue to avoid carriage of WTLK-TV by filing a market modification petition in response to the station's must-carry complaint is an abuse of the Commission's procedures and contrary to the intent of Congress. 11. Market Modification Petition (CSR-4992-A). CCTV states that it has never carried WTLK- TV, even though the station began operation in 1988. CCTV contends that WTLK-TV fails to place a grade B contour over any of the communities CCTV serves, or does so only minimally. In addition, CCTV notes that WTLK-TV's city of license is located 86.07 miles from CCTV's headend, and that the station's transmitter site is 66.90 miles distant from CCTV's headend. CCTV also suggests that the Atlanta metropolitan area separates WTLK-TV from CCTV's communities and defines the southern boundary of the station's market. CCTV contends that these geographic facts demonstrate that WTLK-TV is not a local signal for CCTV's communities. CCTV argues that most of WTLK-TV's programming is infomercials, with some religious programming that shows no nexus to the communities CCTV serves. CCTV notes that it carries eleven other local broadcast stations, all of which are licensed to cities closer to CCTV's communities than is Rome, Georgia, WTLK-TV's city of license. CCTV states that these stations carry local news and other programming of interest, including Atlanta Braves baseball games, Atlanta Hawks basketball games, "Georgia Gang," "Georgia Week in Review," and "Atlanta This Week." These eleven stations also place Grade B contours over CCTV's communities. In addition, CCTV states that one of these stations, WNGM-TV, airs paid programming identical or similar to that which WTLK-TV airs. Finally, CCTV suggests that it is unlikely that WTLK-TV garners measurable viewing in the communities CCTV serves. 12. WTLK-TV argues in opposition that the must-carry portions of the Communications Act are designed to protect local stations such as WTLK-TV by ensuring their carriage rights throughout their ADI. WTLK-TV notes that the statutory rules were recently upheld by the Supreme Court in TBS, Inc. v. FCC, in which the Court stated that Congress properly designed the rules to "prevent any significant reduction in the multiplicity of broadcast programming sources available to noncable households." WTLK- TV contends that its entitlement to carriage throughout its ADI is underscored by the Commission's determination in the Report and Order in MM Docket No. 92-259, supra, that Rome, Georgia -- WTLK-TV's city of license -- is an integral part of the Atlanta, Georgia market. In reaching this determination, WTLK- TV notes that the Commission found that all television stations licensed to Atlanta and Rome compete with each other, and that recognition of a hyphenated Atlanta-Rome, Georgia market was warranted. WTLK-TV notes as well that Congress rejected a definition of a station's market based upon a mileage-based standard, and opted instead for an ADI-based test. 13. WTLK-TV further argues that CCTV has failed to demonstrate that deletion of the communities the system serves from WTLK-TV's ADI would better effectuate the purposes of the must- carry rules or promote the value of localism. WTLK-TV maintains that CCTV fails to support its arguments with particularized evidence that the communities in question are not part of the station's ADI. WTLK-TV contends that Commission precedent holds that the station's lack of historic carriage should not be counted against it, particularly given WTLK-TV's status as a small station with a specialized programming format. WTLK-TV argues that, contrary to CCTV's claims, WTLK-TV provides local coverage to the cable communities. WTLK-TV notes that its programming format, which combines program-length presentations by local and national businesses and community organizations with religious and public affairs programming, is a valuable outlet and conduit for local advertisers, businesses, community, and minority organizations. WTLK-TV states that its public affairs program "Daybreak" provides information on educational, political, societal, and public affairs issues, and has featured several Atlanta-area guests discussing local issues. WTLK-TV further states that its weekly "Georgia Farm Monitor" features news and information for local farmers. In addition, WTLK-TV cites its airing of Japanese-language newscasts as well as locally produced cultural and information programs focusing on issues of concern to Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent and to the Muslim community. WTLK-TV states that it is committed to maintaining and strengthening its local programming, and contends that a station's planned local programming is also to be weighed in evaluating market modification petitions. 14. WTLK-TV reiterates that, despite CCTV's reliance on the distance between its communities and WTLK-TV's city of license and transmitter site, the Commission has previously found that Rome and Atlanta form a unified market. WTLK-TV states that its ability to compete throughout this market should not be limited. WTLK-TV argues that the fact that CCTV carries eleven other stations licensed to communities in the Atlanta ADI is not a reason to abrogate WTLK-TV's carriage rights within the market. WTLK-TV contends that this is particularly so in a case such as this one in which CCTV is seeking to delete communities from WTLK-TV's market. In addition, WTLK-TV argues that the fact that WNGM-TV may air programming that is similar to or at times identical to that aired by WTLK-TV has no bearing on whether the communities served by CCTV are part of WTLK-TV's ADI. Finally, with respect to viewing patterns in the cable communities, WTLK-TV contends that the Commission has previously found that specialty stations such as WTLK-TV offer desirable programming diversity yet frequently attract limited audiences. WTLK-TV argues that limited viewership should not be counted against a specialty station in the context of a market modification petition, citing Greater Worcester Cablevision. 15. In reply, CCTV maintains that WTLK-TV has not rebutted CCTV's showing that the communities in question are not truly part of WTLK-TV's market. CCTV argues that it is the central purpose of the must-carry rules to preserve the diversity of local voices. CCTV states that the Time Brokerage Agreement entered into between WTLK-TV and WNGM-TV shows that WTLK-TV will supply up to 96.4% of WNGM-TV's weekly programming. CCTV additionally notes that an examination of the two stations' program schedules for the week of May 11, 1997-May 17, 1997 shows that 104 of WTLK-TV's 234 listed programs are also aired during that week on WNGM-TV, with 56 of these programs being aired at the same time. This duplication of programming includes WTLK-TV's "Daybreak" and "Georgia Farm Monitor," as well as the station's children's programming. CCTV also notes that WTLK-TV and WNGM-TV have entered into an "Option Agreement" granting WTLK-TV the exclusive option to purchase WNGM-TV. CCTV asserts that failure to remove the communities in question from WTLK-TV's ADI will maintain a duplicative voice rather than a diverse voice in these communities. CCTV argues that WTLK-TV should not be allowed to use the must-carry rules to expand its reach beyond its natural market bounds. 16. CCTV asserts that it has demonstrated through an analysis of the four statutory factors that modifying WTLK-TV's ADI will better effectuate the purpose of the must-carry rules. CCTV contends that the Commission's hyphenation of the Atlanta-Rome, Georgia major television market does not warrant finding that the communities CCTV serves are naturally part of WTLK-TV's ADI. CCTV maintains that this Commission recognition was based upon competition among Atlanta and Rome stations in their areas of service overlap, and not throughout the entirety of the geographic extent of the Atlanta and Rome markets. CCTV argues therefore that because WTLK-TV does not place a Grade B contour over CCTV's communities, WTLK-TV does not compete with Atlanta licensees in these communities. CCTV states that the present case is similar to that of The World Company d/b/a Columbine CableVision, in which communities were deleted from a station's ADI despite being part of a hyphenated market. CCTV further states that the Atlanta edition of TV Guide does not list WTLK-TV. CCTV argues that it is reasonable to evaluate local service based upon Grade B contours, which are a commonly used Commission standard. In addition, with respect to WTLK-TV's analysis of Congressional intent, CCTV contends that Congress' rejection of a fixed 50-mile standard to determine a station's must-carry rights does not negate the fact that WTLK-TV is far distant from CCTV's communities. 17. CCTV further disputes WTLK-TV's commitment to serve the interests of CCTV's subscribers. CCTV argues that the programming WTLK-TV cites as being of local interest has no nexus to the specific communities CCTV serves, but is of merely general statewide or area interest. CCTV asserts that, in any event, the amount of local programming WTLK-TV provides is de minimis, constituting only one and one-half hours per week. Nor, states CCTV, does WTLK-TV show how its Asian and Pacific Islander programming has any nexus to CCTV's communities. CCTV contends that WTLK-TV's proposed future programming is not relevant to whether the station currently provides local coverage or service, which is the statutory standard. CCTV states that the cases WTLK-TV cites to argue that little weight should be given the station's lack of historic carriage are distinguishable, as those cases involved stations that placed Grade B contours over the communities, as well as having other indicia of local service. CCTV further states that the Report and Order in MM Docket No. 93-8, supra, merely addressed the question of home shopping stations' carriage rights in general, and did not address the scope of any such station's market. Finally, CCTV argues that its carriage of other ADI stations with a closer nexus to its communities is a factor to be weighed in favor of granting CCTV's market modification petition, particularly given WTLK-TV's lack of Grade B or other local service. ANALYSIS AND DECISION 18. We turn first to CCTV's market modification petition, to determine whether the communities CCTV serves should be removed from WTLK-TV's ADI. A resolution of this matter will determine whether WTLK-TV is eligible to claim carriage rights in these communities. We note initially, as a procedural matter, that we disagree with WTLK-TV's claim that CCTV is abusing the Commission's processes by filing this petition. The Communications Act explicitly contemplates market modification petitions, and our rules set forth the process which CCTV has followed. 19. Based on our analysis of the evidence relating to the four statutory and other relevant factors, CCTV's petition will be granted. Atlanta is the nation's tenth largest market in terms of population. It is approximately 170 miles long and 150 miles wide, encompassing 52 counties in three states. Rome is some 56 miles to the northwest of Atlanta. WTLK-TV, licensed to Rome, Georgia, began operation in 1988 and broadcasts on channel 14 from a transmitter close to Waleska, Georgia. The cable communities involved are in Newton County, which is located to the southeast of Atlanta, some 86 miles from Rome and 67 miles from the WTLK-TV transmitter site. In addition to the Rome and Atlanta stations, the market is also served by WNGM-TV, channel 56, Athens, Georgia. Athens is approximately 25 miles from the cable communities. A. Historic Signal Carriage 20. Statutory factor one is "whether the station, or other stations located in the same area, have been historically carried on the cable system or systems within such community." WTLK-TV has no history of carriage in the cable communities in question. WTLK-TV began operations more than 10 years ago, so that this carriage pattern is not a reflection of the recent origin of the station. Nor are there stations carried from the same area (Rome) to which this station is licensed. 21. Carriage on nearby cable systems is not a factor specified in the statute, but it does seem likely, depending on the specific circumstances involved, that carriage on nearby systems could serve as evidence to define the logical scope of a station's market. Such carriage serves to demonstrate the belief of both the stations and systems involved that there is a market nexus between the broadcast station and the communities where the station is carried and thus provide evidence as to the scope of a station's market. The signal of WTLK-TV is carried in Atlanta and a number of the surrounding counties between Monroe and Rome but is not carried in the general vicinity of Monroe. B. Station Coverage of Communities 22. Statutory factor two is "whether the television station provides coverage or other local service to such community." With respect to coverage, the Commission has stated in its Report and Order in MM Docket No. 92-259, supra, that "to show that the station provides coverage or other local service to the cable communities, parties may demonstrate that the station places at least a Grade B coverage contour over the cable community or is located close to the community in terms of mileage." CCTV provides evidence that WTLK-TV's Grade B contour falls short of both Covington (CCTV's principal headend community) and of Porterdale. Oxford, and at least some of the unincorporated area of Newton County served by CCTV are, however, at least partially within the contour. 23. With respect to programming service, CCTV alleges that there is no significant amount of programming from the station that is specifically targeted to the cable communities involved. Although the station contends that it broadcasts material of interest to these communities and the Atlanta market more generally, that material does not appear to be of the kind that suggests that these communities are a particular focus of the station or are in any sense served in a manner that establishes a specific market connection. C. Coverage of News, Sporting Events, or Other Events of Interest by Other Stations Entitled to Carriage 24. Statutory factor three is "whether any other television station that is eligible to be carried by a cable system in such community in fulfillment of the requirements of this section provides news coverage of issues of concern to such community or provides carriage or coverage of sporting and other events of interest to the community." In this instance, CCTV alleges that it provides carriage to numerous Atlanta stations that provide local service to its subscribers. WTLK-TV disputes the significance of the coverage by the other stations. 25. Carriage of other local stations may be used as an enhancement factor to support a cable operator's deletion request when there is other evidence in the record that the communities at issue are outside of the station's market. While CCTV suggests that WTLK-TV's programming is not specific to the cable communities, it cites equally non-specific programming as evidence of the other stations' local service. CCTV offers no explanation of why the programming from the other Atlanta ADI stations is any more locally oriented than is WTLK-TV's programming. D. Station Audience in Communities Served by Cable System 26. Statutory factor four is "evidence of viewing patterns in cable and noncable households within the areas served by the cable system or systems in such community." CCTV indicates, without specific evidence, that WTLK-TV lacks viewing in Newton County, Georgia. This is borne out by available Nielsen viewership data, which records no viewing of WTLK-TV in communities in Newton County. E. Other Considerations 27. The factors specified in 614(h) do not purport to be exclusive and thus other evidence may be considered that is helpful in defining the scope of the markets of the stations involved. Another consideration argued to be relevant to this proceeding is the Commission's consideration of the scope of the Atlanta-Rome, Georgia market in the context of a market hyphenation rulemaking proceeding. Market hyphenation proceedings, undertaken pursuant to 614(f) of the Communications Act, and ADI market modification proceedings, undertaken pursuant to 614(h) of the Act, although not identical in purpose nevertheless involve some overlap of objectives and decisional criteria and the FCC's decision to join markets takes into consideration the economic ties between the communities to be hyphenated and the subject stations. The hyphenation of Atlanta and Rome reflects as judgment that stations in Rome and Atlanta are competitive. The hyphenation decision is thus suggestive evidence of the belief, notwithstanding the distances between Atlanta and Rome, that stations from both communities are local to significant overlapping portions of the same market area. However, the hyphenation is not controlling in every circumstance. The "[r]edesignation of the market reflects in the rules the general competitive situation that in fact exists in the local area, allowing the application of the more specific rules, including those relating to `area of dominant influence' changes, to be addressed from the perspective of a properly defined market area." Here, the issue is not whether stations in Rome and Atlanta are competitive but whether the Rome's station's market properly includes communities on the opposite side of Atlanta. Thus, for present purposes the hyphenation decision appears to add little to the 614(h) decision making process. In this respect it is worth noting that Monroe, Georgia, which is the community of license of WHSG, is far closer to the cable communities than is Rome and has neither been hyphenated with Atlanta nor with Rome. 28. CCTV also argues that the duplication of programming between WTLK-TV and WNGM-TV weighs in favor of its petition. The fact that WNGM-TV, which is significantly closer to the cable communities than WTLK-TV, broadcasts programming duplicative of that which WTLK-TV presents is suggestive of a belief among the market participants that WTLK-TV's reach into the WNGM-TV side of the Atlanta market is limited. Generally, in the broadcast industry, stations with duplicative programming do not operate in identical market areas. F. Summary 29. The cable television mandatory broadcast signal carriage rules were adopted as part of the 1992 Cable Act. According to the legislative history of that Act, the use of ADI market areas is intended "to ensure that television stations be carried in the areas which they serve and which form their economic market." The Act specifically provided that the Commission was to consider adding additional communities or excluding communities from the markets of television stations "to better effectuate the purposes" of the mandatory carriage requirements. In acting on such requests the Commission was instructed to "afford particular attention to the value of localism, taking into account four specified statutory factors." These factors, however, were "not intended to be exclusive." The market modification provisions of 614(h) are said, in the legislative history, to "reflect a recognition that the Commission may conclude that a community within a station's ADI may be so far removed from the station that it cannot be deemed part of the station's market." Based on the evidence presented, we conclude that the requested exclusion of the Covington Cable communities from the market of WTLK-TV will better effectuate the purposes of the must-carry statutory provisions. 30. In reaching this conclusion, we have considered the statutory factors as well as other relevant information. WTLK-TV has never been carried in any of the communities in question (factor I), provides no over-the-air television broadcast service for a portion of the communities (factor II), and has no measured audience in the communities (factor IV). Given the statutory directive, weight must be given to these factors, but that must be done bearing in mind that the objective of the 614(h) process is to "better effectuate the purposes" of the broadcast signal carriage scheme. Thus, with respect to the question of historical carriage patterns, attention must be paid to the circumstances from which such patterns developed. Some stations have not had the opportunity to build a record of historical carriage for specific reasons that do not necessarily reflect a judgment as to the geography of the market involved. Thus, these factors -- to the extent they are reflective of circumstances outside of the shape of the market -- are not by themselves controlling in circumstances where such an implementation of the 1992 Cable Act would, in effect, prevent weaker stations that cable systems had previously declined to carry, from ever obtaining carriage rights. 31. Given the difficulties of relying exclusively and explicitly on the statutory factors of historical carriage and viewing patterns, which in certain circumstances could severely narrow the carriage rights of stations even within what is undeniably their local market area, we have found it helpful to focus also on factors that are not influenced by the type or age of the stations involved or historical carriage. The scope of a local station's market may be measured through geographic means by examining the distance between the station and the cable community subject to the deletion request and by taking into account natural phenomena such as waterways, mountains, and valleys that may tend to separate communities and define natural markets -- basic geographic, demographic, and political features that provide the best available alternative evidence of the market boundaries of the stations involved. In this regard, the Commission has explicitly noted the relevance of Grade B contours. In the absence of other information, station service contours provide at least one objective measure of the scope of a station's local market. Here we note that WTLK-TV does not provide Grade B service to Covington (where the system's principal headend is located) and Porterdale. In addition, the communities are on the opposite side of the Atlanta urban area from WTLK- TV and geographically separated from its city of license by approximately 86 miles and from its transmitter location by 67 miles. 32. An additional point weighing in favor of a conclusion that the communities are sufficiently separate from WTLK-TV to warrant exclusion is the existence of station WNGM-TV which is already carried by the cable systems and which carries much of the same programming as does WTLK-TV which has a time brokerage agreement with WNGM-TV and provides much of its programming. Based on general patterns in the television broadcast industry, where two stations are broadcasting much of the same programming, such an arrangement suggests that the area closer to the brokered station is not served by the brokering station. While that may not always be the case, in the present circumstances it provides reinforcing evidence that these communities are logically excluded from the WTLK-TV mandatory carriage area. While the Commission has expressed considerable reluctance to delete communities within a station's ADI that are within the broadcast service contours of the station in question, here the duplication of content and affiliation between WTLK-TV and WNGM-TV, a station already carried by the system, weighs against retention of even those portions of Oxford and the surrounding county within the station's market. Indeed it is likely that, because the principal headend of this system is closer to Athens than to Rome, carriage would not in any case be required because of the provisions of 614(b)(5) of the Communications Act and 76.56(b)(5) of the rules. 33. We have carefully considered each statutory and other relevant factor in the context of the circumstances presented here and, on balance, we find that CCTV has demonstrated that communities it serves lack a sufficient nexus with WTLK-TV to warrant deletion of these communities from the station's ADI. 34. Turning to WTLK-TV's signal carriage complaint, having found that grant of CCTV's petition for market modification is warranted, that complaint is now moot. Section 614 of the Communications Act and the Commission's implementing rules permit stations to assert mandatory carriage rights on cable systems located within their market. The prerequisite for asserting must-carry rights with respect to a particular cable system, however, is that the operator serve communities in the station's ADI. These communities have been deleted from WTLK-TV's market by this Memorandum Opinion and Order. Because we have granted the petition to delete these communities from WTLK-TV's market, the associated complaint filed for mandatory carriage of its signal in these communities is rendered moot. ORDERING CLAUSES 35. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that the petition for special relief (CSR-4992-A) filed April 3, 1997 by Covington Cable TV IS GRANTED. Covington, Oxford, Porterdale, Georgia and the surrounding unincorporated portions of Newton County, Georgia served by the Covington Cable TV system are no longer part of WTLK-TV's market area for purposes of 614. 36. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the "Must-Carry Complaint" (CSR-4969-M) filed March 11, 1997 by Paxson Atlanta License, Inc., IS DISMISSED in accordance with 614(d)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 534) and 47 C.F.R. 76.56(b)). 37. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by 0.321 of the Commission's Rules. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William H. Johnson Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau