Religious broadcasters qualify for educational categorySatellite multichannel video program distributors (MVPD) are supposed to assure that 4% of the programming they carry is noncommercial and educational. The FCC has ruled that religious broadcasters may qualify to be counted toward meeting that obligation. A complaint was filed by The Secular Coalition for America, which felt that DirecTV was both counting noncommercial religious channels toward the 4% requirement and not explaining why. The Commission said that the rules "...do not suggest or provide that a programmer offering programming of a religious nature should be disqualified from access to reserved channels if it otherwise meets the set-aside qualifications." It goes on to explain that decisions on how to allocate the channel usage are entirely the MVPDs - - there is nothing in the rules stipulating otherwise. As for not providing an explanation as to why certain channels were left out, the FCC noted that such an explanation is required but it need only be of the briefest nature, and that DirecTV had indeed provided it. The turndown phrase provided by DirecTV, found to fulfill its requirements, was "capacity full."
