Form FCC Form 333 FCC Form 333 2018 Cable Service Price Survey Questionnaire

March 2018

Not Yet OMB Approved

OMB Number: 3060-0647

Estimated Time Per Response: 7 hours

2018 Cable Price Survey Questionnaire

FCC Form 333

Section A. Community

Community

The information in entries A1 through A3 below has been imported from the Cable Operations & Antenna (COALS) database. Please review this data and make any necessary corrections.

A1. 6-digit community unit identification (CUID)

A2. Name of the community associated with this CUID

A3. Name of county in which the community is situated

A4. List one of the 5-digit Zip Codes in this community

Some questions ask for two years of information (Jan. 1, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018):

A5. Did you operate a video service in this community on 1/1/2017? (yes/no)

System

The information in entries A6 through A8 was imported from the Cable Operations & Antenna (COALS) database. Please review the data and make any necessary corrections. If the name of the system or the address is incorrect, you should also make changes/corrections directly into the COALS system.

A6. Name of cable system

A7. Street address and/or P.O. Box

A8. City, State, and Zip Code

Parent Company

A9. Name of ultimate parent entity

A10. Name of survey contact person

A11. E-mail address of contact person

A12. Area Code & telephone number

A13. Number of video subscribers nationwide of parent entity on 1/1/2018

Certification

I certify that I have examined this report and all statements of fact herein are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, and are made in good faith. Willful false statements made on this form are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment (US Code, Title 18, Section 1001) and/or forfeiture (US Code, Title 47, Section 503).

A14. Name

A15. Title

A16. Date

Local Broadcast Stations and Retransmission Consent Fees

The next questions refer to local broadcast stations that your cable system carries. The questions are required by Congress and refer to retransmission consent fees paid to broadcasters. Please provide information at the community level or the smallest system level at which records are kept. Below are several terms you’ll need to understand to answer the questions.

Cable systems carry local broadcast stations under either retransmission consent agreement or must-carry rights. Under retransmission consent, any cable operator that offers a station to its subscribers must pay retransmission consent fees to the station or obtain another agreement allowing it to carry the station. Under must-carry rights, the cable operator must provide the station to its subscribers but the station cannot require fees.

A broadcast station is identified by its call sign; e.g. WXYZ. It is important to note, however, that one broadcast station may transmit multiple channels. For example, in addition to WXYZ’s primary channel of network programming (e.g. CBS network), WXYZ may transmit multiple multicast sub-channels (e.g. WXYZ-DT2 and WXYZ-DT3) which your cable system carries on separate channels. A multicast sub-channel often shows a different network (e.g. QUBO, Comet, MeTV, etc.) than the primary channel. Multicast sub-channels are often identified in the channel lineup by network name, and not always by call sign. To answer these questions, you’ll need to find out which channels in your channel lineup are multicast sub-channels of broadcast stations.

Local Broadcast Stations*	1/1/2017	1/1/2018
A17. How many stations were carried under retransmission consent agreement?
A18. How many stations were carried under must-carry rights?
Multicast Sub-channels**	1/1/2017	1/1/2018
A19. For the stations carried under retransmission consent agreement, how many multicast sub-channels were carried?
A20. For the stations carried under must-carry rights, how many multicast sub-channels were carried?

* In the example above, WXYZ would count as one station under either A17 or A18, depending on its retransmission consent/must-carry status.

** In the example, WXYZ has two multicast sub-channels, WXYZ-DT2 and WXYZ-DT3.

Retransmission Consent Fees	2016	2017
A21. Total annual amount paid to local broadcasters in retransmission consent fees*
A22. Number of subscribers subject to retransmission consent fees**
Average Annual Fees per Subscriber (automatically calculated)

* Do not include other fees paid to broadcasters such as copyright royalties.

** If subscriber counts are available at the monthly level, report average monthly subscribers under retransmission consent agreement in each year.

Local Broadcast Channels by Standard and High Definition
Number of Local Broadcast Channels on 1/1/2018	Standard Definition	High Definition
A23. How many primary channels of local broadcast stations are carried with basic service? (If shown in both SD and HD, count once under SD and again under HD.)
A24. How many multicast sub-channels of local broadcast stations are carried in your channel lineup with any programming service (do not include the primary channel reported above)?

Section B. Prices, Channels, and Subscribers

Cable Service Tiers

Basic Service

Basic service is the entry level video (cable) TV programming service that subscribers can purchase. Typically, basic service is a "limited basic" which consists only of local broadcast channels; any public, educational, and governmental access channels; and sometimes a few national and/or other channels. In contrast to "limited basic", some operators only offer a "bundled basic" with many popular national networks that other operators might offer separately as expanded basic service. For operators who do not offer limited basic, the bundled basic should be reported as both the basic service and the expanded basic service. Whether limited basic or bundled, basic service is the entry level service that is required for all customers.

B1. Is basic service in this community a “limited basic” as described above? (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018)

Expanded Basic Service

In most cases, expanded basic service includes the limited basic channels plus many popular national networks. However, if you answered "no" to Question B1 (your basic service is not a limited basic) then basic service and expanded basic service are the same.

Next Most Popular Service

The next most popular service (compared to expanded basic service) offers at least seven additional non-premium, national cable networks.

B2. Check box if a next most popular service was not offered (1/01/2017, 1/01/2018).

Monthly Programming Price: In B3-B5, include only the price of programming, do not include equipment lease fees. Also, report the total programming price of each service. For example, if basic service costs $20 and expanded basic service costs an additional $45, report a price of $65 for expanded basic service. If expanded basic service costs $65 and the next most popular tier of channels costs an additional $20, report a price of $85 for the next most popular service.

Monthly Programming Price
	1/1/2017	1/1/2018
B3. Basic Service
B4. Expanded Basic Service *
B5. Next Most Popular Service
* If you answered no to Question B1 (your basic service is not a limited basic), Question B4 is automatically filled with your response to Question B3.

Number of Channels: For each service, separately report the number of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) channels, including channels that may require leasing equipment such as a digital converter. For example, if a network is available in both standard and high definition, this counts as one channel under the SD column and as one channel under the HD column.

Do not count audio-only channels such as a music suite. Except for “All Video Channels” (Question B9), do not count premium, pay-per-view, or video on demand channels.

Number of Channels
Service	1/1/2017		1/1/2018
	Standard Definition	High Definition	Standard Definition	High Definition
B6. Basic Service
B7. Expanded Basic Service*
B8. Next Most Popular Service
B9. All Video Channels **
* If you answered no to Question B1 (your basic service is not a limited basic), Question B7 is automatically filled with your response to Question B6. ** For Question B9, report each individual channel counted in Questions B6-B8 and any additional channels available, including premium, pay-per-view, and video on demand (VOD) channels. If a pay-per-view programming network is available, count it as one channel. Similarly, if a channel shows VOD programming, count it as one channel. For special subscription networks (e.g. MLB Extra Innings), count the network as one channel.

Subscribers: If video (cable) subscriber counts are unavailable at the community level, responses to questions B10-B13 may be made at the system level. In defining your system, use the smallest physical system area surrounding the community for which you maintain subscriber counts for video services.

Number of Video Subscribers
	1/1/2017	1/1/2018
B10. How many subscribers took basic service only?*
B11. How many subscribers took at least expanded basic service?**
B12. How many subscribers took the next most popular service?
B13. What is the total number of video subscribers?
* Exclude subscribers who take expanded basic service. ** If you answered no to Question B1 (your basic service is not a limited basic), Question B11 is automatically filled with your response to Question B10.

B14. Is equipment needed to view any basic service channels? (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018).

B15. Is equipment needed to view any expanded basic service channels? (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018).

B16. Is equipment needed to view any next most popular service channels? (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018).

Equipment Fees: Report the additional monthly fee to lease the most commonly used equipment such as a digital converter box if needed to view any of the channels offered with the programming service. Also, identify the features included with this equipment: digital video recorder (DVR) and high definition (HD). If equipment is included at no additional charge, enter $0. If equipment is not necessary, leave the question blank.

Monthly Equipment Lease Fees
Most Commonly Leased Equipment	1/1/2017	1/1/2018
B17. Basic Service equipment lease fee
B18. Features available with this equipment: DVR _ HD_ (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018)
B19. Expanded Basic Service equipment lease fee
B20. Features available with this equipment: DVR _ HD_ (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018)
B21. Next Most Popular Service equipment lease fee
B22. Features available with this equipment: DVR _ HD_ (1/1/2017, 1/1/2018)
* If you answered no to Question B1 (your basic service is not a limited basic), Questions B19 and B20 are automatically filled with your responses to Question B17 and B18.

Section C. Channel Lineup

Channel Lineup on 1/1/2018	Basic Service	Expanded Basic Service
C1. Number of channels carried under FCC’s public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access rules
C2. Number of channels carried under FCC’s commercial leased access rules

A regional sports network (RSN) carries a substantial number of live games from at least one nearby professional sports team that is a member of the MLB, NBA, or NHL. Examples include Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Fox Sports Detroit, SportsTime Ohio, and Altitude Sports. Do not include MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, NBA League Pass, and NFL Sunday Ticket / Redzone, or pay-per-view events.

If a network is offered with basic service, generally the same network would be offered and counted under expanded basic. Similarly, the number under the next most popular service is generally equal to the number under expanded basic plus any additional RSNs offered. The number under “Other Services” should include any network not accounted for under basic, expanded basic, or the next most popular services.

Channel Lineup on 1/1/2018	Basic Service	Expanded Basic Service	Next Most Popular Service	Additional RSNs Offered with Other Services
C3. Number of Regional Sports Networks

C4. Read the list below and indicate which networks are offered in the community under each of the four services: basic, expanded basic, next most subscribed, or other. Denote "other service" if carried but not on any of these services. For example, HBO would be an "other service" unless offered with one of the three services at no additional charge. If offered with basic, the network is automatically included in expanded basic and the next most popular services since these services include basic. If this is not the case, clear the icon for that service. No distinction is made for HD channels. For example, both ESPN and ESPN HD are ESPN.

FCC NOTICE REQUIRED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT

We have estimated that each response to this collection of information will take 7 hours. Our estimate includes the time to read the instructions, look through existing records, gather and maintain the required data, and actually complete and review the form or response. If you have any comments on this estimate, or on how we can improve the collection and reduce the burden it causes you, please write the Federal Communications Commission, AMD-PERM, Paperwork Reduction Project (3060-0647), Washington, DC 20554. We will also accept your comments via the Internet if your send them to [email protected]. Please DO NOT SEND COMPLETED APPLICATIONS TO THIS ADDRESS. Remember - you are not required to respond to a collection of information sponsored by the Federal government, and the government may not conduct or sponsor this collection, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number or if we fail to provide you with this notice. This collection has been assigned an OMB control number of 3060-0647.

THE FOREGOING NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995, P.L. 104-13, OCTOBER 1, 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507