FCC Boots RFD-TV from DBS
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 12/4/2006 3:10:00 PM
RFD-TV, which televises farm reports and country-life fare, got the boot from satellite TV by the Federal Communications Commission Monday as the agency found that the network was improperly using channel capacity reserved for educators and noncommercial programmers.
"We find that RFD-TV is acting like a commercial enterprise instead of a noncommercial entity with an educational mission," the FCC ruled after determining that the network's deal to air for-profit livestock auctions had a commercial purpose contrary to federal rules.
Under FCC rules, DirecTV and EchoStar Communications have to set aside 4% of their channels for noncommercial and educational programmers, which pay relatively small fees for carriage. The FCC investigated DBS carriage of RFD-TV after Farm Journal complained that the channel was making money using a channel slot the government had assigned to noncommercial users.
An RFD-TV official declined to comment.
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