FCC to Consider TV Receiver Requirements, Distributed Transmission

[Gregg Lengling]

At the FCC Open Commission meeting on Nov. 3, all three items in the Meeting Agenda should be of interest to broadcasters. First on the agenda is "The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Section 621(a)(1)'s directive that local franchising authorities not unreasonably refuse to award competitive cable franchises." The second item should be of interest to those looking for higher performance DTV sets. It reads, "The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order concerning its requirements for new television receivers to include the capability to receive digital television signals." The third item should be of interest to broadcasters interested in using distributed transmission. The FCC will consider "a Clarification Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify the interim policy and propose rules for the use of distributed transmission system ("DTS") technologies by digital television stations."


The Meeting Agenda includes information on how to attend the meeting and notes that it is available on the Internet at //www.fcc.gov/realaudio.