ACA OKs Digital Carriage with Public TV

Members of the American Cable Association ratified a major digital carriage agreement with the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that will guarantee more than three million American households will view local public television stations' multicast programming after the February 2009 digital television transition. The agreement was ratified following the FCC's recent adoption of an order exempting small cable operators that are not affiliated with a major cable operator from being required to carry a high-definition version of local broadcast signals. The 10-year agreement applies to participating ACA members' HD cable systems and includes digital television carriage of public television stations after the DTV transition. Under the agreement, cable operators would carry the primary signal of the participating public television station on the lowest-priced tier, while multicast channels would be carried on the tier where other multicast channels are carried.