In a long-delayed and eventful meeting that wrapped late last night, the FCC gave the cable industry what some consider a rare victory, on a decision related to the 2009 DTV transition. It was one of several sweeping issues the FCC considered in the meeting. From Shirley Brady at Cable360.net (click here for the full post):

In a move designed to not penalize cable subscribers who still have analog TVs after the the digital TV transition deadline of Feb. 17, 2009, the FCC last night ruled that cable operators must transmit broadcasters' local digital and analog TV signals for a three-year period starting the next day (Feb. 18) and not charge broadcasters for carrying those signals. All-digital cable systems are exempt from the requirement to carry analog signals. The three-year sunset clause was a win for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the cable industry's lobbying arm on the Hill, which fought Martin's initial proposal that operators carry a must-carry station's analog and digital signals until a system is all-digital. The NCTA pushed for the three-year limit as a compromise on digital must-carry, although the FCC reserved the right to extend the three-year sunset clause.

The move pleased NCTA’s Kyle McSlarrow, who issued this statement:

I want to thank each member of the FCC for engaging so constructively and fairly with our industry. We are proud to provide a seamless digital transition for all of our customers. In 2005, the cable industry made two public commitments. First, despite the fact that this is a broadcaster transition, we said we would join the effort to educate all Americans about the digital TV transition. Last week, we announced a $200 million consumer education campaign that started this month.

Second, we said that we were prepared to go beyond what the law required to take care of our customers to ensure a seamless transition. In 2005, we reached a marketplace agreement with all public broadcasters for carriage during and after the digital transition. We also worked with Congress on a legislative proposal for commercial must carry stations, which ultimately was not included in final passage of the digital transition law. More recently, our industry developed a voluntary plan in which we would commit to three years of dual carriage for commercial must carry stations, taking into account the very limited but special circumstances of small cable systems.

We are pleased that the FCC’s action today adopts cable’s carriage plan. And we are pleased that the FCC dropped an ill-considered mandate that would have turned back the clock on decades of digital technology innovation. We continue to urge the FCC to act quickly to take into account the special circumstances of very small systems, and to make clear that those systems have the flexibility to serve all their customers without a one-size fits all mandate.