[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 248 (Friday, December 28, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 73744-73745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25130]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 76

[MB Docket No. 07-198; DA 07-4688]


Review of the Commission's Program Access Rules and Examination 
of Programming Tying Arrangements

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Media Bureau extends the comment and reply comment 
deadlines on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') on revisions 
to the Commission's program access and retransmission consent rules and 
whether it may be appropriate to preclude the practice of programmers 
to tie desired programming with undesired

[[Page 73745]]

programming. To facilitate the development of a thorough record, the 
deadline for filing comments in response to the NPRM is extended to 
January 4, 2008, and the deadline for filing reply comments is extended 
to January 22, 2008.

DATES: Comments are due on or before January 4, 2008; reply comments 
are due on or before January 22, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MB Docket No. 07-198, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
    For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Konczal, [email protected], 
of the Media Bureau, Policy Division, (202) 418-2120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Order in MB Docket 
No. 07-198, DA 07-4688, released on November 20, 2007. The full text of 
this document is available for public inspection and copying during 
regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal 
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., CY-A257, Washington, 
DC 20554. This document will also be available via ECFS (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/). (Documents will be available electronically in 
ASCII, Word 97, and/or Adobe Acrobat.) The complete text may be 
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. To request this document in 
accessible formats (computer diskettes, large print, audio recording, 
and Braille), send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Commission's 
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), 
(202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Summary of the Order

    1. On October 1, 2007, the Commission released an NPRM in MB Docket 
No. 07-198 on revisions to the Commission's program access and 
retransmission consent rules and whether it may be appropriate to 
preclude the practice of programmers to tie desired programming with 
undesired programming. The NPRM set deadlines for filing comments and 
reply comments at 30 and 45 days, respectively, after publication of 
the NPRM in the Federal Register. A summary of the NPRM was published 
in the Federal Register on October 31, 2007 (72 FR 61590, October 31, 
2007). Accordingly, the comment filing dates were established as 
November 30, 2007 for comments and December 17, 2007 for reply 
comments.
    2. On November 2, 2007, Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. and Fox 
Television Holdings, Inc. (collectively, ``Fox'') and Viacom Inc. 
(``Viacom'') filed requests for a 45-day extension of the comment 
deadline. Similar requests were subsequently filed by NBC Universal, 
Inc. (``NBCU'') and The Walt Disney Company (``Disney''). The parties 
argue that the issues raised in the NPRM are highly complex and that a 
30-day comment period does not enable them to gather the necessary data 
to respond effectively. The parties argue that additional time will 
enable them to survey executives in their broadcast and cable divisions 
and to retain experts to perform economic analyses. The parties state 
that additional time to respond to the NPRM will serve the public 
interest by facilitating a more complete record. Fox also contends that 
the holiday season compounds the difficulties of responding to the NPRM 
by the comment deadline. Viacom argues that the issues raised in a 
recent class action lawsuit filed against Viacom and others regarding 
the offering of bundled and tiered programming packages are closely 
related to the issues raised in the NPRM. Viacom requests an extension 
of the comment deadline to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive 
response to this lawsuit and to the NPRM. The parties further assert 
that a 45-day extension of the comment deadline will cause no hardship 
or prejudice to other interested parties or to the Commission.
    3. As set forth in Section 1.46 of the Commission's Rules, the 
Commission's policy is that extensions of time for filing comments in 
rulemaking proceedings shall not be routinely granted. 47 CFR 1.46. In 
this case, however, an extension of the comment and reply comment 
period is warranted to enable commenters to gather sufficient data, 
including economic analyses, to facilitate the development of a 
thorough record in response to the issues raised in the NPRM. We 
decline, however, to grant the full 45-day extension requested by the 
parties. With the additional extension granted herein, interested 
parties will now have a total of 65 days to prepare comments. We 
believe that this provides parties with ample time to respond to the 
issues raised in the NPRM.
    4. Accordingly, we hereby grant the Motions for Extension of Time 
filed in MB Docket No. 07-198 by Disney, Fox, NBCU, and Viacom to the 
extent detailed above. The time for filing comments is extended to 
January 4, 2008, and the time for filing reply comments is extended to 
January 22, 2008.
    5. This action is taken pursuant to authority found in Sections 
4(i), 4(j), and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), and 303(r), and Sections 0.61, 0.283, and 
1.46 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.61, 0.283, and 1.46.
    6. Specific instructions for filing comments are located at 
paragraphs 26-27 of the item as published in the Federal Register and 
at paragraphs 139-142 of the item as released by the Commission and 
that appears on the Commission's Web site: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-169A1.doc.

Federal Communications Commission.
Steven A. Broeckaert,
Senior Deputy Chief, Policy Division, Media Bureau.
 [FR Doc. E7-25130 Filed 12-27-07; 8:45 am]
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