******************************************************** 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: ) ) Home Link Communications of Princeton,) CSR-4885-A L.P. and ComVideo Systems, Inc. ) ) For Modification of the ADI of ) Television Stations: ) WHAI-TV, Bridgeport, CT ) WLNY, Riverhead, NY ) WRNN, Kingston, NY ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: May 30, 1997 Released: June 4, 1997 By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION 1. Home Link Communications of Princeton, L.P. and ComVideo Systems, Inc. (hereinafter C-TEC) filed the above-captioned petition for special relief seeking to modify the New York Area of Dominant Influence (ADI) relative to three television broadcast stations: WRNN (Ch. 62-Kingston, NY); WLNY (Ch. 55-Riverhead, NY); and WHAI-TV (Ch. 43-Bridgeport, CT). Specifically, C-TEC requests that the above-listed television stations be excluded from the New Jersey communities they serve in the counties of Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer, New Jersey, for purposes of the cable television mandatory broadcast signal carriage rules. Oppositions to this petition were filed on behalf of WLNY, WHAI-TV and WRNN to which C-TEC replied. BACKGROUND 2. Pursuant to 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. Under the Act, however, the Commission is also directed to consider changes in market areas. Section 614(h)(1)(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 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 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 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 demonstrated 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 ADI,market 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 changes requested 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 Act, that a station not be deleted from carriage during the pendency of an market area change request. MARKET FACTS AND ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES 8. The communities here in question are located in the northern New Jersey counties of Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, and Mercer. Somerset, Hunterdon, and Morris are considered to be part of the New York ADI. Mercer is part of the Philadelphia ADI. Kingston, and Riverhead, New York, and Bridgeport, Connecticut, the cities of license of WRNN, WLNY, and WHAI-TV, respectively, are also a part of the same ADI. The three stations are located approximately 68 miles from the nearest of the communities served by C-TEC. 9. In support of its petition, C-TEC argues that WRNN, WLNY and WHAI-TV should be excluded from carriage on its systems for the following reasons: All three stations are geographically remote from the communities served. C-TEC points out that WHAI-TV is 68-95 miles away from its communities, WLNY is more than 90 miles away, and WRNN at least 84 miles distant. In addition, C-TEC states that the cities of license of the three stations are all located in the northern portion of the New York ADI while the system communities are in the southeastern portion; None of the stations' Grade B contours encompass any of the communities and the stations cannot be received off-the-air. The signal strength of the three stations does not reach the Commission's threshold for UHF stations. Although WHAI-TV and WRNN have proposed to deliver their signals via fiber optic cable, C-TEC states that the Commission has recognized that the use of "fiber optics technology to improve [a station's] signal quality does not convert [the station] into a local station for the purposes of the market modification analysis." There is no history of carriage of any of the stations on C-TEC's systems. None of the stations provide programming which addresses the needs of C-TEC's subscribers. C-TEC argues, for instance, that the majority of WHAI-TV's programming is home shopping and that the few hours of "local" programming it provides is tailored to the interests of the residents of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Bureau concluded in a previous decision that WLNY's programming was targeted toward New York and not New Jersey viewers. C-TEC states coverage of local news and programming is more than adequately covered by must carry stations and local origination channels now carried on its systems. There is no appreciable viewership for any of the stations in the northern New Jersey counties where C-TEC's systems are located. None of the stations are listed in local papers for the northern New Jersey area, nor are they listed in the New Jersey edition of TV Guide. Indeed, C-TEC points out that A.C. Nielsen had assigned WRNN to the Albany-Schenectady-Troy DMA, further evidence that the station has little in common with residents in the system communities. Only one of nine cable systems near to C-TEC carries any of the stations. Moreover, C-TEC indicates that several of these same systems have successfully petitioned the Commission for exclusion of the same channels from their ADI. Finally, C-TEC argues that requiring it to carry these stations would not serve Congress' intent in establishing localism as the linchpin of the must carry provisions. 10. In its opposition, WLNY states that in the instant case, C-TEC has failed to substantiate its showing as to why WLNY should be eliminated from carriage on its systems. WLNY argues that C-TEC is asking the Bureau to adopt a mileage/signal contour-based must carry test in favor of the ADI-based test adopted by Congress. WLNY maintains that the Bureau has no authority to do this. WLNY points out that it is the only remaining commercial independent station in the New York ADI which broadcasts a general entertainment/news/sports format. WLNY states that, despite C-TEC's allegations, it is carried on five cable systems in New Jersey, including ones located in Morris and Somerset Counties, which serve over 700,000 homes. WLNY maintains that three systems carry its signal pursuant to "long-term carriage agreements" that would be unaffected even if the must carry regulations didn't exist. Moreover, WLNY indicates that it is listed in five newspapers with significant circulation in New Jersey. While C-TEC claims that it already receives more than adequate local programming from presently-carried stations, WLNY argues that neither the Bureau nor petitioner can discount the local programming which it provides. Indeed, WLNY states that it provides more local programming than a station, which in a previous modification decision, the Bureau found to have "sufficiently demonstrated that its current and planned programming is in fact designed to serve the needs and interests of the communities in question." WLNY argues that it appears C-TEC is merely trying to minimize the quality and quantity of its local programming by tying the concept of local service to mileage and Grade B contour. WLNY points out that the Bureau has repeatedly held that Grade B contours relative to ADI markets have reduced relevance. WLNY asserts that the 1992 Cable Act was intended to ensure that cable subscribers have access to all the local programming available within their home markets. WLNY also points out that the ADI market concept is based on economic considerations rather than the signal-based must carry standards set forth under previous Commission regulations. Therefore, the fact that its Grade B contour does not encompass any of C-TEC's cable communities is immaterial as to whether WLNY is indeed part of the New York ADI. WLNY argues that hundreds of thousands of people commute daily between New Jersey, New York and Long Island, belying the "natural boundary" theory with regard to the New York ADI. Finally, WLNY maintains that neither the availability of other stations which provide local programming nor the lack of viewership should act as a bar to its station's must carriage rights on C-TEC's systems. 11. WRNN argues in opposition that C-TEC's petition should be denied so that the approximately 50,000 viewers in C-TEC's cable communities not be denied the opportunity to receive WRNN's unique programming. It maintains that C-TEC relies on inaccurate claims and flawed analyses. For instance, WRNN indicates that it is located in the New York DMA, and not the Albany DMA as claimed by C-TEC. WRNN states further that it provides substantial programming which specifically addresses the cable viewers in the subject communities; programming which is not duplicated by any other station which C-TEC carries. WRNN points out that, as an example of its strong commitment to providing programming of import to New Jersey viewers, it has a fully-functioning news bureau located in Piscataway, New Jersey which produces at least seven to eight substantial news stories per day. In addition, it recently debuted a weekly half-hour newscast airing at 8:00 p.m. daily which concentrates exclusively on New Jersey news stories. WRNN maintains that the other stations which C-TEC relies on for news do not cover the local and regional issues important to New Jersey with this kind of attention. Further, WRNN argues that its lack of Grade B coverage and an over-the-air signal do not affect its carriage rights as the Commission has found that "Grade B contours are not to be used as any absolute measure of the scope of a station's market." In any event, WRNN points out that it can provide a good quality signal to C-TEC's headends via fiber optics, which is an approved method of signal delivery. Indeed, WRNN states that, despite C-TEC's claims regarding distance, its signal is carried on eight nearby New Jersey cable systems serving approximately 900,000 subscribers, some of whose headends are as much as 133 miles from Kingston, WRNN's city of license. Finally, WRNN argues that a station's lack of historical carriage should have no probative value prior to the passage of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 since many stations, such as WRNN, were financially unable to indemnify cable systems for copyright liability before 1994 and thus could not obtain carriage on systems in their home ADI. 12. In its opposition, WHAI-TV states deleting its station from C-TEC's systems would subvert the purposes of the must carry provisions of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 which were enacted to ensure that smaller, independent stations, such as WHAI-TV, obtain cable carriage throughout their ADI. WHAI-TV argues that C-TEC has not made a sufficient showing that deletion would "better effectuate" the purposes of the Act. WHAI-TV states that it has demonstrated a significant commitment to providing programming addressing the needs and interests of C-TEC's subscribers. It points out that it has a unique programming format which combines program-length presentations by local and national businesses and community organizations with religious and local public affairs programming. WHAI-TV maintains further that C-TEC's reliance on arguments involving WHAI-TV's lack of historical carriage, Grade B coverage and ratings, and service from other stations have little probative value. It points out that the Bureau has found that "the absence of historic carriage cannot by itself be used to justify a refusal of carriage," Congress specifically rejected Grade B coverage as dispositive of must carry rights, the Commission has determined that carriage of other local stations provides no basis for deletion of communities from a market, and that specialty stations, such as WHAI-TV, "are capable of offer[ing] desirable diversity of programming . . . yet typically attract limited audiences." 13. C-TEC filed a separate reply to each station's opposition. C-TEC states that the majority of WHAI-TV's opposition is an opinion piece on what the must carry regulations should look like. However, C-TEC points out that the Bureau has already evaluated and rejected WHAI- TV's statutory interpretations as "too restrictive and without a sufficient textual basis." In addition, although WHAI-TV attempts to minimize the importance of Grade B contours, the Commission has indicated that Grade B service and geographic distance will be the primary elements used to determine whether a station provides "local" service. While WHAI-TV makes much of its "local" programming, C-TEC argues that it fails to demonstrate that its programming is local to the instant communities. C-TEC points out that the programming cited by WHAI-TV is, in the main, irrelevant to the interests of its systems' subscribers. Moreover, it continues, WHAI-TV presents no evidence on whether the station's commercial advertising or religious programming is tailored to meet the specific needs or interests of the communities' residents. Finally, C-TEC argues that despite WHAI- TV's assertions, in cases where stations are excluded from an ADI market, the issue of service by other stations within the market is given "greater weight." 14. C-TEC states that WRNN tries to minimize the significance of its failure to provide a Grade B signal by characterizing its lack as a signal quality issue rather than a local service issue. However, C-TEC argues that a Grade B service contour generally defines the parameters of a station's local service and the failure of a station to deliver a viewable signal is not merely a signal quality issue that can be resolved with the use of fiber optics. C-TEC maintains that WRNN's claim that it targets areas for local coverage beyond where its signal can be received off-the-air is both unsupported and insupportable. C-TEC states that the Bureau has already noted that "the fact that a station has invested in fiber optics technology to improve its signal quality does not convert WRNN into a `local' station for purposes of the market modification analysis." C-TEC points out that the news stories listed by WRNN do not reflect local service aimed at its communities; indeed, many address broader New Jersey issues. C-TEC states that in a previous case, the Commission analyzed essentially the same facts and found that WRNN's programming was insufficient to overcome its lack of Grade B coverage and geographic distance. Finally, while WRNN makes much of its carriage on neighboring cable systems, it overlooks the fact that some system communities where WRNN has already been deleted are closer to Kingston, the station's city of license, than the C-TEC communities. 15. C-TEC argues that its communities are simply too far away from WLNY for the station to provide local service. Moreover, it states that the Bureau has firmly established that geographic distance is a major factor in determining whether a station actually and consistently serves a community's local interests. For instance, C-TEC points out that the Bureau has already deleted WLNY on systems that are even closer than C-TEC's communities. Like WRNN, C-TEC argues that WLNY should be aware of the importance the Bureau places on the Grade B service contour, a factor which has been a key element in the Bureau's decisions to delete WLNY from carriage on other New York ADI communities. C-TEC maintains that WLNY's programming also does not target its systems' communities. Indeed, C-TEC states that the Bureau has already determined that the "majority of programming [of WLNY] is of no particular interest to New Jersey viewers." In addition, C-TEC argues that WLNY is misplaced in its assumption that service by other stations cannot affect whether its station should be deleted. Finally, WRNN's carriage on other cable systems "is not highly probative of establishing a history of carriage." Like WRNN, C-TEC points out that WLNY has also been excluded from cable communities closer than the communities herein. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 16. Based on our analysis of the evidence relating to the four statutory and other relevant factors, C-TEC's petition will be granted. New York is the nation's most populous television market. Geographically, the market encompasses some 29 counties in four states. It is roughly 170 miles long and 150 miles wide, stretching north into Ulster County and the Catskill Mountains and down to the New Jersey coastal counties of Monmouth and Ocean in the south; Pike County, Pennsylvania is at the westernmost edge of the market which then extends eastward to include Fairfield County, CT and all of Long Island, NY. The cable communities involved are in the New Jersey counties of Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, and Mercer which are some 25 to 50 miles west and southwest of New York City. WLNY, licensed to Riverhead, New York, first signed on-the-air in 1985 and broadcasts on channel 55 from a transmitter located in Ridge, New York. The cable communities are 90 or more miles from the station. WHAI-TV, licensed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, first signed on-the-air in 1987, went dark in 1991, and resumed service in late 1993. The station broadcasts on channel 43 from a transmitter located in Seymour, Connecticut. It is 68 to 95 miles from the cable communities. WRNN, licensed to Kingston, New York, signed on-the-air in 1985 as WTZA, and broadcasts on channel 62 from a transmitter located on Overlook Mountain in Woodstock, New York. It is between 83 and 100 miles from the cable communities. A. Historic Signal Carriage 17. 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." None of the stations at issue in this proceeding has any history of carriage in the cable communities in question. Nor are other stations carried from the same general areas (Riverhead, Bridgeport, or Kingston) to which these stations are licensed. None of the stations is of recent origin. 18. 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 could serve 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. There is no evidence that WHAI-TV is carried on cable systems in other communities near the communities here is question. WLNY and WRNN have been carried on a number of cable systems in northern New Jersey. Most of these systems, however, tend to be closer to WLIG or WRNN than are the communities C-TEC serves and a number of nearby systems do not carry the signals. B. Station Coverage of Communities 19. Statutory factor two is "whether the television station provides coverage or other local service to such community." This factor incorporates both technical service and programming service. With respect to technical service coverage, the Commission has stated in its Broadcast Signal Carriage Report and Order 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." None of the stations involved here provide Grade B or other service that can be received over-the-air in the cable communities or are close in terms of mileage. Here each of the communities is well outside of the Grade B contours of the stations involved. The absence of over-the-air service is also reflected in the stations' lack of audience in the communities, the distances from the transmission facilities involved, and in technical measurements submitted by C-TEC. Because of the absence of over-the-air local service, all of the stations appear to be intending to deliver their signals via fiber optic cable. 20. With respect to programming service, C-TEC alleges that there is no programming from the stations that is specifically targeted to the cable communities involved. There is evidence, however, that each of the stations broadcast some material directed toward northern New Jersey. WLNY has, among others, a weekly public affairs program entitled "New Jersey Today" and has a news bureau in Wayne, New Jersey (Passaic County). WRNN has a daily news program entitled "New Jersey News Live" and has a news bureau in Piscataway, New Jersey (Middlesex County). WHAI broadcasts a public affairs program on weekday afternoons entitled "Jersey Cares" highlighting issues and charitable organization operating in New Jersey. C. Coverage of News, Sporting Events, or Other Events of Interest by Other Stations Entitled to Carriage 21. 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 C-TEC alleges that the New Jersey stations carried (WWOR-TV, WNJU, WHSE, WNET, WXTV, WNJN and WMBC) and the New York City stations carried (WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV, WNYW, WABC-TV, WPIX, and WNET) provide extensive coverage of issues of concern to its New Jersey subscribers. The stations generally do not dispute C-TEC's factual claim as to carriage but deny the relevance of this statutory factor in the context of a system operator's petition to delete communities from a station's market. WLNY notes that, of the stations cited by C-TEC, three are foreign-language, one is a home shopping station, and two are public television stations that often carry the same programming. D. Station Audience in Communities Served by Cable System 22. 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." There does not appear to be any dispute that none of the stations involved here have any audience in the cable communities involved, either in cable or in noncable households. E. Other Considerations 23. The factors specified in Section 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. One such additional factor involves whether local newspapers or other listings of station programming that have circulation in the cable communities include the programming of the stations in question. C-TEC includes television program listings from the Somerset Courier-News, the Morris County Daily Record, the New Jersey edition of TV Guide to demonstrate the absence of such a listing for WHAI. Neither WHAI nor WRNN dispute the absence of newspaper listings. WLNY, however, notes that it is listed in the major New York City newspapers (which also have circulation in New Jersey) as well as in the Bergen Record and the Parsippany Daily Record. 24. Although at the present time the Commission uses Arbitron ADI market definitions, it has also suggested that Nielsen DMA designations would be of evidential interest in market modification proceeding as supporting or failing to support a proposed change in the market of a particular station. C-TEC cited, in support of its proposal with respect to WRNN, an earlier decision regarding this station which noted that Nielsen Media Research had assigned the station to the Albany-Schenectady-Troy DMA for ratings purposes in its 1995 viewership study. "The evidence," that decision stated, "demonstrates, at least from Nielsen's standpoint, that WRNN-TV, because of its location and Grade B contour, more aptly serves Albany and its environs, rather than the New York ADI" (footnote omitted indicating that WRNN's Grade B contour covers Albany and Troy). WRNN urges that this earlier statement was incorrect and that the Commission wrongly stated that Nielsen had assigned WRNN to the Albany DMA. The Nielsen 1995 County/Coverage Study lists WRNN's (then identified as WTZA) "mkt of origin" as Albany-Schenectady-Troy and does not include it along with the New York market stations. This information, while not controlling of the carriage rights of WRNN, was cited as evidence of how outside parties including the audience rating services and those making use of these services regarded the coverage and scope of WRNN's market. F. Summary 25. 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 Section 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." We believe that the requested exclusion of the communities served by C-TEC's cable systems from the markets of WLNY, WHAI-TV, and WRNN will better effectuate the purposes of the must-carry statutory provisions. 26. In reaching this conclusion, we have considered the statutory factors as well as other relevant information. WLNY, WHAI-TV, and WRNN have never been carried in the communities in question (factor I), provide no over-the-air television broadcast service to the communities (factor II), and have no measured audience in the communities (factor IV). Other stations that are entitled to carriage do provide news and other information regarding issues of concern to the communities (factor III). Given the statutory directive, weight must be given to these factors, but that must be done bearing in mind that the objective of the Section 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 like WLNY, WRNN, and WHAI-TV, that cable systems had previously declined to carry, from ever obtaining carriage rights. 27. At the same time we reject the argument that regardless of the Section 614(h) process, stations are essentially guaranteed the right to carriage throughout the ADI. The provisions of the must carry statute specifically direct the Commission to exclude communities from a station's ADI where doing so will better effectuate the purposes of the legislation. The legislative history notes that the Commission, in making market determinations, 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. 28. Another factor to consider is the availability of other broadcasters in the market that are eligible for carriage and provide coverage of news, sporting events, or other events of interest to the communities at issue. We reject the argument that this factor should not be considered in evaluating deletion requests. The notion that this factor should not be examined in proceedings of this type is contrary to the statutory directive. We have stated, and reiterate here, that where a cable operator is seeking to delete a station's mandatory carriage rights and it is clear that the station is not providing local service to those communities, the issue of local coverage by other stations becomes a factor to which we will give greater weight. Such reasoning is not inconsistent with decisions in prior deletion cases in which we held that "we do not believe the enhancement criterion should be used by a cable operator to bolster its request to delete communities from a station's television market whenever it could show that other stations in the market serve the cable communities." In using such language, we were asserting that a cable operator seeking to delete communities from a station's market could not simply point to the fact that it carried other local stations and, by that fact alone, satisfy its burden of proof. In other words, a cable operator's deletion request will not automatically be granted "whenever" it can show that it carries other local stations providing coverage of local issues. Rather, 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. In the present case, C-TEC carries numerous other stations licensed to communities in the New York ADI that provide coverage of local news and events. 29. Given the difficulties of relying exclusively and explicitly on the statutory factors of historical carriage and viewing patterns, which could severely restrict the carriage rights of new stations and stations with specialized formats, we have found it necessary to focus more heavily 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 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 stations local market. Here we note that WLNY and WHAI-TV are geographically separated from Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer Counties both in terms of mileage and by New York City and the Hudson River. Here, the City and the waterway serve as natural market boundaries and correspond to the station's technical border as reflected by its Grade B contour. While WRNN is not separated by all of these same geographical obstacles it also is far distant in terms of mileage from the cable communities. While neither the petitioning nor the opposing parties take note of the fact, the Mercer County communities of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township are sufficiently distant that they are actually in the Philadelphia market area. 30. Weighing against the grant of the petition is evidence relating to cable carriage in other New Jersey communities and the fact that stations have demonstrated some efforts to provide programming targeted to northern New Jersey. However, the pattern of cable carriage is not such as to demonstrate that the CTEC operations fall within the market areas of WLNY and WRNN and reinforce the evidence as to WHAI-TVs absence from the area. This evidence demonstrates at best that these communities are on the edge of the markets of WLNY and WRNN. Since none of the stations have been recently licensed, the weight accorded to the statutory factors cannot be discounted due to insufficient time having elapsed for market patterns to be revealed. Moreover, the majority of the programming involved is of general interest rather than specifically targeted to the communities here involved and does not serve, in terms of the scope of the markets involved, to warrant inclusion of the communities involved with those closer communities where deletion requests have previously been denied. 31. We have carefully considered each statutory and other relevant factors in the context of the circumstances presented here and conclude that grant of C-TEC's petition will effectuate the purposes of the must carry statutory provisions. ORDER 32. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to 614(h) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 534 and 76.59 of the Commission's Rules, 47. C.F.R. 76.59, that the petition filed on behalf of Home Link Communications of Princeton, L.P. and ComVideo Systems, Inc. IS GRANTED. 33. 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