Sec.  76.57   Channel positioning.

   (a) At the election of the licensee of a local commercial broadcast
   television station, and for the purpose of this section, a qualified low
   power television station, carried in fulfillment of the must-carry
   obligations, a cable operator shall carry such signal on the cable system
   channel number on which the local commercial television station is broadcast
   over the air, or on the channel on which it was carried on July 19, 1985, or
   on the channel on which it was carried on January 1, 1992.

   (b) At the election of the licensee of a qualified local NCE broadcast
   television station carried in fulfillment of the must-carry obligations, a
   cable operator shall carry such signal on the cable system channel number on
   which the qualified NCE television station is broadcast over the air, or on
   the channel on which it was carried on July 19, 1985.

   (c) With respect to digital signals of a television station carried in
   fulfillment of the must-carry obligations, a cable operator shall carry the
   information necessary to identify and tune to the broadcast television
   signal.

   (d) Any signal carried in fulfillment of the must-carry obligations may be
   carried on such other channel number as is mutually agreed upon by the
   station and the cable operator.

   (e) At the time a local commercial station elects must-carry status pursuant
   to  Sec. 76.64, such station shall notify the cable system of its choice of
   channel position as specified in paragraphs (a), (b), and (d) of this
   section. A qualified NCE stations shall notify the cable system of its
   choice of channel position when it requests carriage. Channel positioning
   requests from local commercial stations shall be fulfilled by the cable
   operator no later than October 6, 1993.

   (f) Pursuant to  Sec. 76.64(f)(3), a local commercial broadcast television
   station that fails to make an election is deemed a must-carry station. A
   cable operator shall carry such a television station on the cable system
   channel number on which the local commercial television station is broadcast
   over the air, or on the channel on which it was carried on July 19, 1985, or
   on the channel on which it was carried on January 1, 1992. In the event that
   none of these specified channel positions is available due to a channel
   positioning request from a commercial television station affirmatively
   asserting its must-carry rights or such a request from a qualified local
   noncommercial educational station, the cable operator shall place the signal
   of such a television station on a channel of the cable system's choice, so
   long as that channel is included on the basic service tier.

   Note to  Sec. 76.57: Any existing agreement for channel position between a local
   commercial station entitled to must-carry status and a cable operator
   entered into prior to June 26, 1990, may continue through the expiration of
   such agreement.

   [ 58 FR 17361 , Apr. 2, 1993, as amended at  58 FR 40368 , July 28, 1993;  59 FR 62345 , Dec. 5, 1994;  66 FR 16553 , Mar. 26, 2001]