The FCC will decide soon whether to grant broadcasters "must-carry" rights on cable systems for the five or more channels of digital programming they will soon be able to transmit over the air. Rights to such cable carriage are worth tens of billions of dollars. Why should the broadcasting industry get something for free that every other cable/satellite channel must pay for? Should the broadcasters give something in return? Will digital must-carry rights really speed the broadcast DTV transition (thus speeding the return of the second free channel each station received for the DTV transition - spectrum worth tens of billions of dollars to taxpayers)? Will digital must-carry really save "free TV" (thus saving the poor from having to go without TV)? A panel of media experts debate the "must-carry" question, and present what may be better policy solutions to achieve the stated ends of must-carry.
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The New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave., NW 7th Floor
Washington, DC, 20009
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