FCC's Martin To Support Quiet Period

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has agreed in principle to bar TV stations from pulling their signals from cable systems around the time of the Feb. 17, 2009, transition to digital television. The idea for a "quiet period" so that carriage disputes did not interfere with the DTV transition was first proposed to the FCC in April by five cable-operators, including Mediacom Communications, Charter Communications and GCI Cable. At this point, Martin and the operators don't agree on the length of the quiet period. In their filing, the MSO said the duration of the quiet period should run from the date the FCC approved the idea until May 31, 2009. Chairman Martin has proposed two quiet periods for the other four FCC members to consider: Either Jan 15, 2009, to Feb 28, 2009, or Dec 15, 2008, to Feb 28, 2009.