The National Association of Broadcasters reiterated its firm position in support of the proposed “carry one, carry all” requirement last week in a second round of comments concerning the ongoing clash between satellite providers and the Federal Communications Commission. Satellite television providers, such as DirecTV, protest the requirement, claiming they do not have the capacity to provide subscribers with programming in both HD and SD versions of local broadcast stations. NAB urged the FCC to investigate such claims of limited capacity before fully relying on them.

The “carry one, carry all” requirement directs a satellite carrier to carry all qualified local stations if it chooses to use the local-to-local license to carry signals in a particular market. The requirement, mandated by the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA), ensures the continued availability of a wide variety of different over-the-air channels. Satellite companies are claiming that they satisfy the “carry one, carry all” requirement by providing either the HD or SD version of a local broadcast signal. NAB disagrees, arguing that giving satellite providers the ability to “cherry pick” signals in this manner will leave many satellite subscribers without an ability to view many local stations.

You can read NAB’s comments here.