A cable operator is prohibited from accepting or requesting monetary payment or other valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage or channel positioning of any broadcast television station carried in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements, except that

(a) Any such station may be required to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal or a baseband video signal to the principal headend of the cable system; or

(b) A cable operator may accept payments from stations which would be considered distant signals under the cable compulsory copyright license, 17 U.S.C. 111, as indemnification for any increased copyright liability resulting from carriage of such signal.

Note:

A cable operator may continue to accept monetary payment or other valuable consideration in exchange for carriage or channel positioning of the signal of any local commercial television station carried in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements, through, but not beyond, the date of expiration of an agreement between a cable operator and a local commercial television station entered into prior to June 26, 1990.

(c) A cable operator may accept payments from stations pursuant to a retransmission consent agreement, even if such station will be counted towards the must-carry complement, as long as all other applicable rules are adhered to.

[58 FR 17362, Apr. 2, 1993, as amended at 59 FR 62345, Dec. 5, 1994]