NEWSReport No. MM 96-18                   MASS MEDIA ACTIONOctober 24, 1996

        COMMISSION APPROVES MICROSOFT ANCILLARY DATA TRANSMISSION
                                 SYSTEM


   By letter dated October 24, 1996, Mass Media Bureau, approved a horizontal overscan
ancillary signal system designed by Microsoft Corporation and authorized its use by broadcast
television licensees without further Commission consent.  The system inserts digital data in a
portion of the video  in an "overscanned" area located along the extreme left edge of the picture,
an area that the viewer generally cannot see.

   Until recently, the Commission prohibited licensees from inserting ancillary data into the
video portion of their broadcast signals without prior authorization.  Now, however, the
Commission allows broadcasters that choose to provide ancillary services to use certain specified
ancillary transmission systems without further authorization.  These systems were approved by
the Commission in a Report and Order released in July, 1996.  By letter request dated October
16, 1996, Microsoft Corporation requested a ruling that broadcast television station licensees
could also use its proposed new ancillary transmission system without further Commission
authorization.  

   The Commission determined that the Microsoft system is essentially similar to the overscan
system used by Yes! Entertainment Corporation (Yes!), which the Commission authorized in the
Report and Order, and that the timing, amplitude, and frequency parameters of Microsoft's system
are within those of the Yes! system.  Further, the Commission noted that the ancillary signal
could easily be removed by the licensee, thereby allowing the licensee to retain control over the
transmission.

   The letter to which this News Release refers is available in the FCC's Public Reference Room
(Room 239) or through ITS, the Commission's duplicating contractor, at (202) 857-3800.

   Action by the Chief, Mass Media Bureau, October 24, 1996.

                                  - FCC -

   For further information, please contact Paul R. Gordon, (202) 418-2130, or Gordon Godfrey,
(202) 418-2190.