Sec.  76.987  New product tiers.

    (a) Operators may establish a category of CPSTs, referred to as 
``new product tiers'' (``NPTs''), and offer these tiers to subscribers 
at prices they elect.
    (b) In order to be eligible to offer NPTs, cable operators must meet 
the following conditions:
    (1) Operators offering NPTs are prohibited from making fundamental 
changes to what they offer on their BSTs and CPSTs offerings on 
September 30, 1994. Operators may drop channels or move channels between 
BSTs and/or CPSTs or to an a la carte offering so long as the 
aggregation of such changes do not constitute a fundamental change in 
their BST or CPSTs.
    (2) Operators may not drop channels that were offered on their BSTs 
or CPSTs on September 30, 1994 and move them to NPTs unless they wait at 
least two years from the date the channels were dropped from the BSTs or 
CPSTs. Time shifted versions, slightly altered versions or renamed 
versions of channels offered on BSTs and CPSTs on September 30, 1994 
shall not be exempt from this restriction.
    (3) Operators must market their BSTs and CPSTs so that customers 
should be reasonably aware that:
    (i) Those tiers are being offered to the public;
    (ii) The names of the channels available on those tiers; and
    (iii) The price of the tiers. A subscriber may not be charged for an 
NPT unless the cable operator has obtained the subscriber's affirmative 
consent. Changes to the fundamental nature of

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an NPT must be approved by subscribers in accordance with Sec.  76.981.
    (4) Operators may not require the subscription to any tier, other 
than a BST, as a condition for subscribing to an NPT and operators may 
not require subscription to an NPT as a condition for subscribing to a 
CPST. These restrictions will not apply to cable operators prior to 
October 5, 2002, if such operators lack the capacity to offer BSTs and 
NPTs without also providing other intermediate tiers of service as 
provided in Sec.  76.900(c).
    (c) Operators may offer the same service on NPTs as are on one or 
more BSTs or CPSTs. A channel that occupied a CPST or BST part-time on 
September 30, 1994 also may be offered full-time on an NPT as long as it 
continues to be offered at least part-time on CPST or BST, under 
substantially the same conditions as before it was offered on the NPT. 
If a channel occupies a BST or CPST (regulated pursuant to Sec.  76.922) 
full-time on September 30, 1994, and is subsequently reduced to part-
time on the BST or CPST, that channel may not be offered on an NPT full-
time. Operators that offer a channel both on an NPT and a BST or CPST 
will have a continuing obligation to ensure that subscribers are aware 
that the channels are available on the CPST or BST.
    (d) Operators may temporarily place new channels on CPSTs for 
marketing purposes and then move them to NPTs. In order for an operator 
to move a channel from a CPST to an NPT pursuant to this paragraph, the 
channel must not have been offered on a BST or CPST prior to October 1, 
1994.
    (e) After initially electing to offer an NPT, a cable operator may 
cease to provide the NPT, upon proper notice to subscribers pursuant to 
Sec.  76.1603. If an operator drops an NPT and subsequently determines 
to reestablish that tier, at the time of the reestablishment it must 
comply with the conditions for offering NPTs set forth in paragraph (b) 
of this section.
    (f) If the Commission receives a complaint about an NPT, the 
operator need not file the rate justification provided in Sec.  76.956, 
but shall within the time period provided by that rule file 
documentation that the NPT meets all the conditions set forth in this 
section.

    Note 1 to Sec.  76.987: Cable operators offering a NPT must comply 
with the notice requirement of Sec.  76.1605.

[59 2003 FR 62625 , Dec. 6, 1994, as amended at  65 FR 53617 , Sept. 5, 2000]