Auction opponents find comfort in appeals court dissent; but no rehearing in DBS-public interest requirement case. (FCC policies regarding direct broadcast satellite television)

Broadcasting & Cable, February, 1997 by McConnell, Chris

But no rehearing in DBS-public interest requirement case Opponents of FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's public interest policies this month got some encouraging words from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. Half of the 10~judge court issued a dissenting opinion that questioned last summer's decision to uphold a requirement that DBS operators devote 4%-7% of their channel capacity to educational or informational programing.

While they issued no opinion on whether the requirement itself should be allowed, the five judges said the rule cannot be justified on the basis of spectrum scarcity. "DBS is not subject to anything remotely approaching the 'scarcity' that the court found in conventional broadcast in 1969 and used to justify a peculiarly relaxed...

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