§ 76.61   Disputes concerning carriage.

   (a) Complaints regarding carriage of local commercial television stations.
   (1) Whenever a local commercial television station or a qualified low power
   television station believes that a cable operator has failed to meet its
   carriage or channel positioning obligations, pursuant to § § 76.56 and 76.57,
   such station shall notify the operator, in writing, of the alleged failure
   and identify its reasons for believing that the cable operator is obligated
   to carry the signal of such station or position such signal on a particular
   channel.

   (2) The cable operator shall, within 30 days of receipt of such written
   notification, respond in writing to such notification and either commence to
   carry the signal of such station in accordance with the terms requested or
   state its reasons for believing that it is not obligated to carry such
   signal or is in compliance with the channel positioning and repositioning
   and other requirements of the must-carry rules. If a refusal for carriage is
   based on the station's distance from the cable system's principal headend,
   the operator's response shall include the location of such headend. If a
   cable operator denies carriage on the basis of the failure of the station to
   deliver a good quality signal at the cable system's principal headend, the
   cable  operator  must  provide  a  list  of equipment used to make the
   measurements, the point of measurement and a list and detailed description
   of  the  reception  and over-the-air signal processing equipment used,
   including  sketches  such  as  block diagrams and a description of the
   methodology used for processing the signal at issue, in its response.

   (3) A local commercial television station or qualified low power television
   station that is denied carriage or channel positioning or repositioning in
   accordance  with  the  must-carry rules by a cable operator may file a
   complaint with the Commission in accordance with the procedures set forth in
   § 76.7 of this part. In addition to the requirements of § 76.7 of this part,
   such complaint shall specifically:

   (i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to meet its
   obligations and the basis for such allegations.

   (ii)  Be  accompanied  by the notice from the complainant to the cable
   television system operator, and the cable television system operator's
   response, if any. If no timely response was received, the complaint shall so
   state.

   (iii) Establish the complaint is being filed within the sixty-day deadline
   stated in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.

   (4) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet
   its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days
   of such order or such other time period as the Commission may specify, the
   cable operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an
   obligation to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station
   and  continue  such carriage for at least 12 months. If the Commission
   determines  that  the  cable  operator  has  fully  met the must-carry
   requirements, it shall dismiss the complaint.

   (5) No must-carry complaint filed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section
   will  be accepted by the Commission if filed more than sixty (60) days
   after—

   (i) The denial by a cable television system operator of request for carriage
   or channel position contained in the notice required by paragraph (a)(1) of
   this section, or

   (ii) The failure to respond to such notice within the time period allowed by
   paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

   (b)  Complaints  regarding  carriage of qualified local NCE television
   stations. (1) Whenever a qualified local NCE television station believes
   that a cable operator has failed to comply with the signal carriage or
   channel positioning requirements, pursuant to § § 76.56 through 76.57 of this
   part, the station may file a complaint with the Commission in accordance
   with the procedures set forth in § 76.7 of this part. In addition to the
   requirements of § 76.7 of this part, such complaint shall specifically:

   (i) Allege the manner in which such cable operator has failed to comply with
   such requirements and state the basis for such allegations.

   (ii) Be accompanied by any relevant correspondence between the complainant
   and the cable television system operator.

   (2) If the Commission determines that a cable operator has failed to meet
   its must-carry obligations, the Commission shall order that, within 45 days
   of such order or such other period as the Commission may specify, the cable
   operator reposition the complaining station or, in the case of an obligation
   to carry a station, commence or resume carriage of the station and continue
   such carriage for a period of time the Commission deems appropriate for the
   specific case under consideration. If the Commission determines that the
   cable operator has fully met the must-carry requirements, it shall dismiss
   the complaint.

   (3) With respect to must-carry complaints filed pursuant to paragraph (b) of
   this section, such complaints may be filed at any time the complainant
   believes that the cable television system operator has failed to comply with
   the applicable provisions of subpart D of this part.

   [ 58 FR 17362 , Apr. 2, 1993, as amended at  64 FR 6572 , Feb. 10, 1999]

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