Public Access Section of FCC's Comcast-NBCU Merger Order

Submitted by atheis on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 9:21pm

Congratulations to the leadership and members of, and contributors to, the ACM, ACD, NATOA and all others who helped bring about this significant achievement!  ~ Rob McCausland

FCC MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
In the Matter of Applications of Comcast Corporation, General Electric Company and NBC Universal, Inc.
For Consent to Assign Licenses and Transfer Control of Licensees
MB Docket No. 10-56 [full report pdf - http://bit.ly/dPc0nY]

Here below is the language from the report for the actual conditions.  ~ Rob McCausland

139
XIV. PEG CONDITIONS

1. Comcast shall not migrate PEG channels to digital delivery on any Comcast cable system

until the system has converted to all-digital distribution (i.e., until all analog channels have been
eliminated), or until the governmental entity that is responsible for the system’s PEG operations pursuant

to the law ofthe state in question otherwise expressly agrees, whichever comes first.  In any event,
Comcast shall provide advance written notice to the system’s franchising authority and to its local

community of its intent to migrate the PEG channels of the system in question.

2. Comcast shall carry all PEG channels on its digital starter tier (D0), or on an equivalent
tier that reaches at least 85 percent of the subscribers of the Comcast system.

3. C-NBCU shall not implement a change in the method of delivery of PEG channels that
results in a material degradation of signal qualityor impairment of viewerreception of PEG channels,
providedthat thisCondition shall not prohibit Comcast from implementing new technologies also utilized
for commercial channels carried onitscable systems (including, but not limited to, digitization and
switched digital video). Comcast shall continue to meet FCC signal quality standards when offering PEG
channels on its cable systems and shall continue to comply with closed captioning pass-through
requirements.

4. To enhance localism and strengthen public access, educational and governmental
programming, Comcast shall develop a platform to host PEG content On Demand and On Demand
Online within three years of the Closing of the Transaction.

a. To develop the new platform, within three years of the Closing of the
Transaction, Comcast shall select five locations in Comcast’s service area to
serve as trial sites.  Sites shall be chosen to ensure geographic, economic and
ethnic diversity, with a mix of rural and urban communities.  They shall not
include the community of any system that currently has a PEG VOD or online
presence.
b. Comcast shall consult with leaders in the trial communities to determine what
programming (public access, educational and/or governmental) would most
benefit residents by being placed on VOD and online. Itshall not exercise
editorial control in determining which PEG programming shall be available on
either platform.
c. Comcast shall meet the following benchmarks in its developmentof these
platforms:
(i) within 30 days of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall announce
the final locations of the five pilot communities.
(ii) within nine months of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall

initiate On Demand placement of available PEG programming in
each PEG pilot community.  Additional programming shall
continue to be provided throughout the remaining trial period.

(iii) within one year of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall initiate

On Demand Online placement of available PEG programming in
each PEG pilot community through existing or newly created
online platforms.  Additional programming shall continue to be
provided throughout the remaining trial period.

(iv) within 18 months of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall initiate

marketing support of the On Demand and On Demand Online
platforms in each PEG pilot community.

(v) within two years of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall

complete surveys of the user experience for both the On Demand
and On Demand Online platforms in each PEG pilot community,
and shall begin to implement recommended changes.
(vi) within three years of the Closing of the Transaction, it shall
complete the pilot phases and evaluate results of the pilots.

(vii) starting six months after the Closing of the Transaction, it shall

submit semi-annual reports to the Commission, on the progress of
its online and VOD platform development, including the details of
its activities in meeting each of the above-noted benchmarks.  In
addition to filing this information with the Commission, to enable
the public to view the information, it must also post the same
information on its website.

d. This Condition is designed to enhance existing PEG channel carriage and shall
not affect Comcast’s existing franchise requirements for traditional linear PEG
channel carriage.