PMCM Interpretation of Rules Would Cause 'Widespread Disruption,' FCC Tells DC Circuit
PMCM’s reading of rules would cause “widespread disruption” and let TV stations demand cable carriage on their RF channel numbers, displacing stations using those slots, the FCC said in a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.…
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Circuit. It's the latest salvo (see 1709280034) in PMCM’s battle to have its WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, assigned to virtual channel 3 after being relocated. Two longtime stations in the area use that channel. “Neither the FCC’s rules nor the must-carry statute compel such counterintuitive and counterproductive results,” the agency said Friday. It disagreed with the company's definition of terms in the rules such as channel and market, and argued that not assigning PMCM the channel it seeks is within “broad discretion” granted to the regulator.