[mythtv-users] Damn you Time Warner

[Brad DerManouelian]

Brian Wood wrote:
> On Apr 8, 2008, at 2:41 PM, Brad Fuller wrote:
>> On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM, R. G. Newbury  
>> <newbury at mandamus.org> wrote:
>>> Read 47 CFR 76  It's your usual dense hard to read regulatory bumf.  
>>> but
>>> TW is required by law to carry locally receiveable OTA channels
>>> (must-carry channels) in the clear, without encryption.
>> Do you know if that includes stations that the cable company hasn't
>> carried in the past, but have started to? e.g. independent stations.
>>
>> Or put another way, are they *required* to carry ALL OTA stations?
> 
> Assuming it is a "significantly viewed" local station, the station has  
> two options:
> 
> They can insist that the cable company carry their signal, and the  
> cable company must comply (there are exceptions for systems with  
> limited channel capacity, which is very few today).
> 
> They can require the cable company to pay a fee to the station in  
> order to carry their signal, which the cable system is then free to  
> not do.
> 
> Generally smaller independent stations choose the first option, and  
> major network affiliates go for the second.
> 
> beww

DirecTV gets around this by allowing you to hook up an antenna to your 
STB and tune HD OTA channels with it. I'm not sure if this applies to 
cable as well. That's not to say they don't carry local HD stations as 
many satellite companies do, but the OTA Antenna is always an option on 
their boxes.

-Brad