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FCC RIN: 3060-AG91 Publication ID: Fall 2008 
Title: Digital Must Carry (CS Docket No. 98-120) 
Abstract: Section 614(b)(4)(B) of the Communications Act requires that, at the time the Commission prescribes standards for advanced television, it should "initiate a proceeding to establish any changes in the signal carriage requirements of cable television systems necessary to ensure cable carriage of those broadcast signals of local commercial television stations which have been changed to conform with such modified standards." In August of 1998, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on the requirements of that section. In June 2000, based on responses to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission clarified that DTV-only television stations, in the context of auctioning analog channels 59-69, will ultimately have must carry rights. In January of 2001, the Commission issued a First Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking resolving a number of technical and legal issues, including clarification that digital-only TV stations are entitled to mandatory carriage. In the Second Report and Order and First Order on Reconsideration, adopted in February 2005, the Commission affirmed its tentative conclusion not to impose dual carriage and affirmed its prior determination that broadcasters were entitled to carriage of one digital programming stream. In the Third Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted in September 2007, the Commission addressed issues concerning the carriage of digital broadcast television signals after the conclusion of the digital television transition. The Commission adopted rules to ensure that cable subscribers will continue to be able to view broadcast stations after the transition. 
Agency: Federal Communications Commission(FCC)  Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant 
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Long-Term Actions 
Major: Undetermined  Unfunded Mandates: No 
CFR Citation: 47 CFR 76   
Legal Authority: 47 USC 534   
Legal Deadline:  None
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
NPRM  08/07/1998  63 FR 42330   
MO&O and FNPRM  07/12/2000  65 FR 42879   
FNPRM  03/26/2001  66 FR 16523   
First R&O  03/26/2001  66 FR 16533   
Second R&O and First Order on Recon   03/22/2005  70 FR 14412   
Second FNPRM  06/06/2007  72 FR 31244   
Second FNPRM Comment Period End  07/16/2007    
Third R&O and Third FNPRM  02/01/2008  73 FR 6043   
Next Action Undetermined  To Be Determined    
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Undetermined  Government Levels Affected: Undetermined 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No 
Agency Contact:
Eloise Gore
Associate Bureau Chief
Federal Communications Commission
Media Bureau, 445 12th Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20554
Phone:202 418-1066
TDD Phone:202 418-7172
Fax:202 418-1069
Email: eloise.gore@fcc.gov