In their filing with the commission, the trade associations argued that the FCC made two fundamental errors in not requiring must-carry protection for local broadcasters’ digital multicast signals

The agreement, which still must be ratified, commits cable systems with 750MHz or more of capacity to carry up to four streams of free non-commercial digital broadcast programming from one public TV station per market and the station’s analog signal

Addressing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Conference this week, the FCC chairman built the case for requiring cable operators to carry free digital multicast channels.

A letter last week from seven advocacy groups to the FCC expressed opposition to proposals to require cable operators to carry the digital multicast channels of broadcasters

It is widely expected that the commission will address the question of whether cable system operators will be required to carry the digital multicast signals of television stations at its Feb. 10 meeting

In reply comments filed with the FCC last week, the Community Broadcasters Association addressed assertions from cable TV interests arguing against extending must-carry protection to some Class A stations

As part of its legislative push, the NAB unveiled results of a new study showing the financial benefits of multicast DTV carriage by cable systems

The letter from the cable association told the FCC that the Cable Act of 1992 states that cable operators must carry only the “primary video” and “accompanying audio” of public stations.