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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

                                )
Complaint of                    )       CSR-4886-M
Quincy Jones Broadcasting, Inc. )
against                         )
Charter Communications, L.P.    )
                                )
                                )
Request for Mandatory Carriage  )
                                )


                  MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

   Adopted:  May 8, 1997                Released:  May 12, 1997

By the Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau:

                           INTRODUCTION

     1.   Quincy Jones Broadcasting, Inc. ("Quincy"), licensee of WNOL(TV), New Orleans,
Louisiana, Channel 38 ("WNOL") has filed a request for mandatory carriage of its signal on the
cable system operated by Charter Communications, L.P. ("Charter") in the communities of Amite
City, Bogalusa, Franklinton, Folsom, Hammond, Independence, Pearl River (NW), Ponchatoula,
Roseland, St. Tammany, Sun, Tangipahoa, and Tickfaw, Louisiana (collectively. the
"Communities").  Charter did not file a response.

                            BACKGROUND

     2.   Pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act and implementing rules adopted
by the Commission in its Report and Order in MM Docket 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.   A commercial television station serving a community of license that is located within
the same ADI as the principal headend of a cable system has a right of carriage on that cable system. 
However, this right is subject to several conditions: 1) a cable system operator is generally required
to devote no more than one-third of its activated channel capacity in order to comply with the
mandatory signal carriage obligations; 2) the station is responsible for delivering a good quality
signal to the principal headend of the system; 3) indemnification may be required for any increase
in copyright liability resulting from carriage; and 4) the system operator is not required to carry the
signal of any station whose signal substantially duplicates the signal of any other local signal carried
or the signals of more than one local station affiliated with a particular broadcast network.  If,
pursuant to these requirements, a system operator elects to carry the signal of only a single affiliate
of a broadcast network, it is obliged to carry the affiliate from within the market whose city of
license is closest to the principal headend of the cable system.
     
                       SUMMARY OF PLEADINGS

     4.   WNOL first notes that it is assigned to the New Orleans ADI, the same television 
market served by Charter's cable systems.  WNOL then states that, on September 27, 1996, it
notified Charter of WNOL's election of must-carry status on Charter's cable systems serving the
Communities.  WNOL further states that, on November 21, 1996, it sent a second request for
mandatory carriage to Charter.  WNOL asserts that Charter failed to respond to WNOL's repeated
attempts to seek mandatory carriage in violation of Section 76.61(a)(2) of the Commission's rules. 
WNOL alleges that, in further violation of the Commission's rules, Charter has not commenced
carriage of WNOL's signal in the communities at issue.

                            DISCUSSION

     5.   We will grant WNOL's carriage complaint against Charter.  Section 614(a) of the Act
states that each cable operator shall carry the signals of local commercial television stations.  A local
commercial television station is defined as any full power broadcast television station that is within
the same television market as the cable system.  It is undisputed that WNOL and Charter are
located in the same ADI.  A cable operator is required to carry the signals of a local commercial
station unless that station fails to deliver a good quality signal to the cable system's principal
headend; the station's signal substantially duplicates the signal of another local commercial station
which is carried on the system; or the cable operator (with a system of more than 12 usable activated
channels) has already allocated up to one-third of the aggregate number of its usable activated
channels to other local commercial stations.  Commission rules also require a local commercial
station that believes that a cable operator has failed to meet its carriage obligations to complain in
writing to the operator.  The cable operator must respond in writing to the station's complaint
within 30 days of receipt.  The operator must either commence carriage of the signal, or explain its
reasons for failing to do so.  If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet
its must-carry obligations, it may order an operator to commence carriage of a station.  In this case,
Charter failed to respond within 30 days to WNOL's letters requesting carriage, as is required by
Commission rules.  Consequently, we will order Charter to carry WNOL.    

                         ORDERING CLAUSES

     6.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to  614 of the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 534, and  76.61(a)(2), 47 C.F.R.  76.61(a)(2) of the Commission's
rules, the Petition for Special Relief (CSR-4886-M) filed by Quincy Jones Broadcasting, Inc. IS
GRANTED.

     7.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Charter Communications, L.P. SHALL
COMMENCE CARRIAGE of the signal WNOL(TV) within sixty (60) days from the release date
of this Order on its cable system serving Amite City, Bogalusa, Franklinton, Folsom, Hammond,
Independence, Pearl River (NW), Ponchatoula, Roseland, St. Tammany, Sun, Tangipahoa, and
Tickfaw, Louisiana.

     8.   This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated by  0.321, 47 C.F.R.  0.321 of
the Commission's rules.

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                         


                         Gary M. Laden
                         Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division      
                         Cable Services Bureau