Adelstein Suggests Changes in FCC rules

[Gregg Lengling]

Democratic FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein today suggested he might vote in favor of a proposal to change the agency's must-carry rules and require cable operators to carry all of the free signals that broadcasters offer on their new digital channels. His approval would be predicated on broadcasters agreeing to a requirement that all qualified signals would include a local angle.

"With respect to carriage, broadcasters make the case that multicast carriage will further localism," the commissioner said in a speech to media industry attorneys in Washington. "If so, there should be no reason why they cannot accept a localism requirement on all their digital program streams that gain the privilege of must-carry."

Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, declined comment on whether NAB would support a formal government mandate. However, he said, "We think there will be an explosion of all types of programming, including local public interest programming, under digital multicasting."

Mr. Adelstein's comment is of particular interest in the carriage debate because two of his agency colleagues-Republicans Kevin Martin and Kathleen Abernathy-have signaled their support for a multicasting carriage requirement. If Mr. Adelstein can be persuaded to join them, broadcasters will have majority support in the agency.