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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 Complaint of ) ) McLaughlin Broadcasting, Inc. ) CSR-5176-M ) vs. ) ) Time Warner Cable ) ) Request for Carriage of WQHB(TV) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: April 3, 1998 Released: April 8, 1998 By the Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division, Cable Services Bureau: INTRODUCTION 1. McLaughlin Broadcasting, Inc. ("McLaughlin"), licensee of television broadcast station WQHB(TV), Sumter, South Carolina, has filed a must-carry complaint requesting that the Commission order Time Warner Cable ("Time Warner"), operator of cable television systems serving the communities listed on Appendix A ("the Communities"), to commence carriage of WQHB(TV). Time Warner filed an opposition, and McLaughlin filed a reply. 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. 3. Under the Commission's must-carry rules, cable operators have the burden of showing that a commercial station that is located in the same television market is not entitled to carriage. One method of doing so is for a cable operator to establish that a subject television station's signal, which would otherwise be entitled to carriage, does not provide a good quality signal to a cable system's principal headend. Should a station fail to provide the requisite over-the-air signal quality to a cable system's principal headend, it still may obtain carriage rights because under our rules a station may provide a cable operator with specialized equipment, at the station's expense, which will improve the station's signal to an acceptable quality at a cable system's principal headend. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 4. The complaint shows that WQHB(TV) is a full power television station located in Sumter, South Carolina, in the Columbia, South Carolina ADI. The cable systems operated by Time Warner are also located in the Columbia ADI, and Time Warner's carriage of WQHB(TV) will not cause any increase in Time Warner's copyright liability. WQHB(TV) is therefore a local television station qualified under the provisions of 47 C.F.R.  76.55(c) for carriage on Time Warner's cable systems, provided it delivers a good quality signal to the headends of Time Warner's cable systems. 5. Time Warner has produced signal strength studies which it contends show that WQHB(TV) fails to place a good quality signal over the principal headends of its cable systems located at Manning, Orangeburg, St. Matthews, Columbia, and Eastover, South Carolina. McLaughlin asserts that the studies fail to establish that WQHB(TV)'s signal strength does not meet the -45 dBm minimum statutory standard required to qualify for carriage, on the grounds that those studies do not fully comply with Commission requirements for such studies. McLaughlin states that it requested Time Warner to provide corrected studies, contending that proper studies may well show that a good quality signal is delivered off the air to the respective cable system headends and eliminate any need for costly special signal delivery arrangements. Although contending that Time Warner's signal strength studies do not comply with Commission requirements, as an alternative, in the event corrected studies should show the station's signal strength lacking, McLaughlin requested Time Warner to make a commitment under Section 76.61(a)(2) of the Commission's rules to carry WQHB(TV) upon completion of the installation of equipment necessary to deliver a good quality signal to the systems' headends. Time Warner responded by asserting that Section 76.61(a)(2) does not require it to make such a such commitment. None-the-less, Time Warner acknowledges that McLaughlin offered to install the additional equipment at no cost to Time Warner. Time Warner also informed McLaughlin that it remains ready, willing and able to work with McLaughlin if the McLaughlin desires to install the proposed equipment. Time Warner contends, therefore, that the complaint is moot and should not have been filed with the Commission. McLaughlin, in reply, asserts that Time Warner has not made an unqualified commitment to carry WQHB(TV), contends that filing of the complaint was necessary to preserve must carry rights for the station, and argues that the complaint is not moot. 6. We find that the signal strength studies provided by Time Warner do not fully comply with the Commission's requirements. In particular, the requisite four readings were not taken at any of the headend locations, among other things. None-the-less, we find that McLaughlin has made an unqualified commitment in correspondence with Time Warner, and on this record, to install equipment necessary to deliver a good quality signal to the headends of Time Warner's cable systems at Manning, Orangeburg, St. Matthews, Columbia, and Eastover, South Carolina. It appears reasonable that McLaughlin determined that corrected studies would fail to establish that WQHB(TV) provides a good quality signal to the headends of these cable systems and accordingly elected to provide additional equipment for that purpose. In view of McLaughlin's commitment to install equipment necessary to deliver a good quality signal to Time Warner's cable system headends and McLaughlin's expressed concerns about Time Warner's commitment to carry WQHB(TV), we will issue an order for carriage. ORDERING CLAUSES 7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 614 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 534), that the complaint of McLaughlin Broadcasting, Inc. ("McLaughlin") IS GRANTED, and Time Warner Cable ("Time Warner") IS ORDERED to commence carriage of television station WQHB(TV) on its cable systems serving the Communities listed on Attachment A within sixty (60) days after McLaughlin installs the equipment necessary to provide a good quality signal to Time Warner cable system headends at Manning, Orangeburg, St. Matthews, Columbia, and Eastover, South Carolina. . 8. This action is taken pursuant to authority delegated under Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.321. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Gary M. Laden Chief, Consumer Protection and Competition Division Cable Services Bureau APPENDIX A Communities Served by Time Warner Cable Name of Community Cuid No. Arcadia Lake SC0137 Batesburg SC0306 & SC0305 Bishopville SC0029 Blythewood SC0558 & SC0452 Calhoun SC0320 Cayce SC0126 Columbia SC0400, SC0492, SC0493, SC0064, & SC0039 Cordova SC0381 & SC0393 Eastover SC0339 Edmund SC0436 Elgin SC0297 Forest Acres SC0075 Fort Jackson SC0180 Gaston SC0435 Harbison SC0104 & SC0111 Irmo SC0085 & SC0176 Kershaw SC0341 Lake Marion SC0323 Lee SC0113 Leesville SC0307 Name of Community Cuid No. Lexington SC0082, SC0308, SC0426, SC0052, SC0549, SC0550, & SC0342 Little Mountain SC0417 Lost Creek SC0337 Manning SC0185 & SC0415 Newberry SC0415 Orangeburg SC0114 & SC0019 Pine Ridge SC0189 Pelion SC0437 Pontiac SC0559 Ravenwood SC0454 Richland SC0053, SC0572 & SC0344 Riverhill SC0455 School Dist. No. 2 SC0188 St. Matthews SC0319 Summerton SC0186 South Congaree SC0190 Springdale SC0128 St. Andrews SC0453 West Columbia SC0127 Waterford SC0451