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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: ) ) CSR-4652-X NEPSK, Inc. ) BPCT-961126KH ) Petition for waiver of the cross- ) ownership rule ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: October 16, 1997 Released: October 20, 1997 By the Chief, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1. In this proceeding, NEPSK, Inc., licensee of WAGM-TV, Presque Isle, Maine, is seeking a permanent waiver of the broadcast/cable television cross-ownership rule, 47 C.F.R.  76.501(a), with respect to one cable system community in Monticello, Maine, for which a temporary waiver has previously been granted, and for cable system communities in Patten/Island Falls, Houlton/Hodgdon and Oakfield that will be covered by WGM-TV's Grade B contour if a pending facilities change application is granted. In the alternative, NEPSK seeks an extension of the temporary waiver for the Monticello cable system until its facilities change application is acted on. NEPSK's request is unopposed. 2. In April, 1996, NEPSK was granted a temporary waiver of Section 76.501(a) with respect to its Monticello, Maine cable system. This temporary waiver will expire on November 1, 1997. On November 26, 1996, NEPSK filed an application with the Commission requesting a construction permit to change the transmitter site of WAGM-TV to expand substantially its service area and included the subject request for waiver of the broadcast/cable television cross-ownership rule for four cable systems, including Monticello, that would come within the new predicted Grade B contour of WAGM-TV. This facilities change application remains pending. DISCUSSION 3. Section 76.501(a) of the Commission's rules prohibits the common ownership and/or control of a television station and a co-located cable television system. At the time NEPSK filed its original petition, in 1995, there was also a statutory ban on broadcast/cable television cross-ownership. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress eliminated the statutory ban. Prior to codification of Section 76.501(a) by Congress in 1984, the Commission, on several occasions, granted relief regarding the rule. Similarly, since repeal of the statutory requirement, the Commission may grant waivers of the cross-ownership rule if we determine it is in the public interest. 4. If NEPSK's application to change the WAGM-TV transmitter site is granted, WAGM- TV's predicted Grade B contour will cover, in addition to Monticello, three other small communities served by cable systems that NEPSK acquired in 1996: Patten/Island Falls, Houlton/Hodgdon and Oakfield. We believe, however, that until the application is decided, it is premature to determine whether a permanent waiver with respect to all four cable systems would be in the public interest. We will rule on this request in conjunction with a determination on the pending application. 5. It is timely, however, to examine NEPSK's request, in the alternative, for a permanent waiver with respect to the Monticello system that is within WAGM-TV's current Grade B contour. NEPSK states that WAGM-TV is the only commercial television station in Presque Isle, Maine, a Designated Market Area ("DMA") that includes 27,920 households, a decline of 3,000 households since 1995, and that there are currently 410 subscribers to the Monticello cable system, a decrease since the time the temporary waiver was granted. NEPSK also states that there are 56,812 people within the current predicted Grade B contour of WAGM-TV. Thus the 410 Monticello cable subscribers represent only a de minimis portion of the population within WAGM's market and existing Grade B contour. 6. NEPSK states that there is only one United States broadcast station serving the Presque Isle and Monticello area, in addition to WAGM-TV, and that is WMEM-TV, a non-commercial station. NEPSK contends that there is no other United States television station in the area which could be competitively affected by NEPSK's cross-ownership. Nevertheless, NEPSK avers that its cable system will carry any new station that may, in the future, operate in the Presque Isle DMA. 7. NEPSK also contends that granting the waiver will not decrease diversity of media voices and, ultimately, may increase diversity on the Monticello system. NEPSK explains that the Monticello cable system currently carries NBC and ABC network programming via satellite from distant locations outside the state of Maine. Once assured of permission to continue ownership of Monticello, NEPSK promises to evaluate the necessary investment to connect the Monticello system to its neighboring Houlton/Hodgdon cable system via fiber optic cable. This connection would enable the Monticello system to carry network stations from Bangor, Maine, which would benefit the public interest by providing more local coverage and information. CONCLUSION 8. For the reasons described above, we find that it is premature to decide whether a waiver with respect to NEPSK's four cable systems would serve the public interest. However, we conclude that granting a permanent waiver of the broadcast/cable television cross-ownership rule to NEPSK with respect to its interest in the Monticello cable system would serve the public interest. We believe that NEPSK has sufficiently demonstrated that the Monticello subscribers are a de minimis portion of the population served by WAGM-TV and that as a result of this waiver, NEPSK will be better able to serve the local interests of the Monticello subscribers. ORDERING CLAUSE 9. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the request for waiver filed November 26, 1996 in BPCT-961126KH, IS GRANTED to the extent indicated above. 10. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.321. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Meredith J. Jones Chief, Cable Services Bureau