FCC Is Expected to Reject ‘Dual Must-Carry’

The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to reject a request by television broadcasters such as ABC to force cable companies including Comcast Corp. to show both digital and analog versions of network programs, FCC lawyers familiar with the matter said.

Broadcasters want shows such as ABC’s “Monday Night Football” to be carried on cable both in the current analog format and in digital form to expand their audience to viewers with new high-definition televisions.

Cable companies oppose so-called dual must-carry because it would force them to duplicate their current network programming, potentially squeezing out other cable channels.

A formal FCC vote may take place as early as December, but appears more likely to occur early next year.

All five commissioners, including FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell, have decided individually to deny the broadcasters’ request, said the FCC lawyers, who asked not to be named.

“Commissioners seem to think there’d be too much of a burden on cable without sufficient public benefit,” said Blair Levin, an analyst with Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., who was an FCC chief of staff.

A decision not to force cable companies to carry the digital signals during viewers’ conversion to high-definition TV would be a defeat for broadcasters and their independently owned affiliates. The TV stations have been pushing for a rule change for five years.

The FCC has set a 2006 target for the transition to the superior sound and pictures of digital TV, although that deadline is unlikely to be met, Powell has said. The conversion will take place when 85% of U.S. households can receive digital signals, Congress has decided.

The National Assn. of Broadcasters, a trade group for network affiliates, has told commissioners that a rule change would accelerate viewers’ conversion to digital TV.

“There’d be relatively little capacity burden on cable because there’s infinite channel capacity now,” NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said in an interview.

The association has cut back its lobbying on the dual must-carry issue after getting negative reaction from the commissioners, Wharton said.

Spokesmen for Powell and Commissioners Kevin J. Martin and Kathleen Q. Abernathy declined to comment. Spokesmen for Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment.