Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals: Amendment to Part 76 of the Commission's Rules

The Commission addresses the obligations of small cable systems, and grants them an exemption from the material degradation requirement to carry high definition broadcast signals under the Commission's rules. The Commission holds that cable systems that either have 2,500 or fewer subscribers and are not affiliated with a large cable operator, or have an activated channel capacity of 552 MHz or less, are exempt from the requirement to carry high definition versions of broadcast signals. This exemption will sunset three years after the conclusion of the digital television (DTV) Transition. The Commission notes that the signals of all must-carry stations must continue to be made viewable to all subscribers pursuant to the Commission's rules.