FCC Gives More Time To Weigh In On PEG Channels Citing the volume of comments, the FCC extended the reply comment period to April 1
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable March 16, 2009 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/print/190051-FCC_Gives_More_Time_To_Weigh_In_On_PEG_Channels.php Citing the volume of comments, the FCC will give interested parties more time to weigh in on whether cable operators can move PEG channels to analog, whether there should be more specific rules about the signal quality of those channels relative to others, and how AT&T's U-Verse service should be defined relative to PEG requirements. The FCC Monday extended the reply comment period on a request for a declaratory ruling on (PEG) public, educational and government channels from March 24 until April 1. The commission said that between Feb. 6, when it issued the call for comment, to the March 9 deadline it had recieved more than 500 comments, some of them "quite complex." Originally, only the petitioners were going to get to reply to those comments, but the FCC has decided to open up replies to all comers, which it said necessitated moving the deadling for replies. As a result, it is also waiving the requirement that the petitioners serve their reply comments to all 500-plus commenters. Many of those 500 comments were prompted by Free Press, which wants the FCC to require that all cable systems "must pass through closed captioning and secondary audio programs when provided by PEG content producers; must offer PEG content through the same interface and service tier as other basic cable channels, with no extra obstacles; and must deliver PEG content to the customer at the same video and audio quality as other basic cable channels." . Free Press also requested that the FCC define AT&T's U-verse service as a cable service subject to PEG requirements. In a related petition, four Michigan communities are asking the FCC to rule on whether Comcast should have been able to move PEG channels to a digital tier there. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
