Court Won't Block FCC Viewability Rule Decision

A Federal Appeals Court has dismissed a broadcaster petition to stay the Federal Communications Commission's viewability rule order. On Aug. 24, the FCC's Media Bureau denied the request by Agape Church Inc., London Broadcasting Company, the National Association of Broadcasters and Una Vez Mas to stay the decision, which takes effect in December.

The petitioners then sought a stay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit until the court can hear a broadcaster challenge to the decision. The court denied a stay as well, saying only that the petitioners "have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review." Those would include demonstrating the likelihood of winning the appeal and suffering serious harm if the stay were not granted. The FCC in June voted to sunset the viewability rule, which means that, as of December, cable operators will no longer have to deliver dual analog and digital feeds of must-carry TV station signals to satisfy the FCC requirement that they be viewable to their subscribers.