FCC Prepares for Multicast Debate

[Gregg Lengling]

Wire reports out of the nation's capital said Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has proposed rejecting a proposal that would force cable companies - and presumably satellite TV services as well - to carry multiple digital signals offered by a broadcast TV station.

With broadcasters readying the digital delivery of multiple channels, known as multicasting, requests soon surfaced that cable should be be required to carry the extra broadcast video streams. In 2001, the FCC ruled that cable had to carry only one digital broadcast signal for a station, and soon after the order was released station owner Paxson Communications and others petitioned the FCC to reconsider its decision.

Reuters reported that Powell has circulated a proposal that would uphold the 2001 cable/multicast decision, and the wire service said he has scheduled a vote on the topic at the FCC's next open meeting, set for Feb. 10. Still, things could change now and the meeting, depending on how much support Powell can get for the proposal.

This week, EchoStar told the FCC that a digital multicast regulation would be unconstitutional. "The multicast obligation is an unadorned handout to broadcasters, at the expense of DBS operators' First Amendment rights," the company said in a letter sent to the commission this week.

EchoStar told the FCC it opposes any multicast carriage obligation. "There is no evidence at all, in this or any other proceeding, that carriage of a broadcaster's second, third, or sixth feed will threaten that broadcaster's viability," the company said.