Broadcasters, MVPDs Disagree About Expanding Channel Sharing
Broadcasters support FCC proposals to allow stations that don't give up their spectrum in the incentive auction to channel share outside the context of the incentive auction. But AT&T and NCTA believe it will discourage auction participation and unfairly burden pay-TV carriers, according to comments responding to a channel sharing NPRM posted Thursday and Friday in docket 15-137. Allowing channel sharing for stations outside the incentive auction is a "logical corollary" to allowing stations in the auction to share, said NAB, saying the FCC should be as flexible as possible about channel sharing agreements (CSAs).
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If stations don't have to be in the auction to share, they lose a reason to participate, said AT&T and its new subsidiary DirecTV, and NCTA. Congress authorized channel sharing to clear broadcast spectrum, and only broadcasters that submitted winning bids in the auction should be allowed to share, AT&T said.
If the FCC allows channel sharing outside the auction, it should require that the vacated spectrum be relinquished to the FCC and no longer eligible for broadcast use, except to relocate TV stations that were repacked into the wireless band, AT&T and DirecTV said in a joint filing. But NAB said vacated channels “should remain allocated for television use and be available for white spaces devices unless they are occupied by a television station. Maintaining the current allocation of these channels may also assist in any future transition to a new television standard.”
Allowing channel sharing for auction nonparticipants could hurt the auction, NCTA said. The FCC proposal may “have the perverse effect of inducing stations to refrain from participating in the auction, so that the government does not recapture spectrum that might otherwise have been relinquished,” NCTA said. Flexible rules for broadcast channel sharing is a way to encourage auction participation, said the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition. Since the sharing order on reconsideration allows CSAs to have limited terms and be temporary, the commission needs to expand the field of possible sharing partners for broadcasters, the EOBC said. “Broadcasters must know that they will at least have the option to enter into another channel sharing arrangement upon the expiration of the initial term.” CSAs should have a minimum term length of three years to minimize disruption, AT&T said.
Broadcasters and MVPDs are concerned with how channel sharing rules intersect with carriage rights. Broadcasters need to know that sharing won't affect their carriage rights, NAB said. “Assuring broadcasters that entering into channel sharing agreements will not affect carriage or retransmission rights” will likely increase auction participation, NAB said. Channel sharing shouldn't create any new carriage obligations around the shared station, AT&T and DirecTV said. If MVPDs incur costs due to shared stations changing transmitters, the costs should be borne by the broadcasters, AT&T said. The Spectrum Act and the Constitution don't allow “the extension of multiple must-carry rights to stations that choose to share a channel outside the context of the auction,” NCTA said.
Allowing channel sharing after the auction is a way the commission could ease the effects of the auction on low-power TV, said LPTV broadcaster International Communications Network. LPTV stations won't know until after full-power and Class A stations are repacked what frequencies and sharing options are available to them, ICN said. Broadcasters will need flexible rules around channel sharing to negotiate effective rules, ICN said.