As an April 1 deadline approaches for TV stations to begin simulc...

As an April 1 deadline approaches for TV stations to begin simulcasting 50% of their analog program schedule in digital, Paxson asked the FCC to grant it a 1-year waiver of the rule. The company, the largest owner of DTV stations in the country, said in an FCC filing that its “continuing inability to secure cable carriage” of DTV signals and uncertainty about the simulcast requirements were to blame. Paxson also argued that due to “a continuing lack of consumer adoption of DTV technology, the public interest would not be served by requiring Paxson’s compliance with these new requirements.” Paxson owns 61 full-power TV stations. The company said the FCC hadn’t acted on the question of mandatory carriage rights for broadcasters and in Jan. opened a rulemaking asking whether it should alter or eliminate the simulcast requirements.