McCarty said he’s not trying to unseat the Ottumwa/Kirksville market FOX and ABC stations. He said he just wants NBC and CBS from Des Moines, two stations which would not be stepping on any toes locally.

But even that is against the law, according to the policy supplied to the Courier by the FCC. Only if the satellite company were to pick up and transmit KYOU and KTVO could satellite then supply Des Moines stations as well.

The FCC spokesperson declined to speculate on potential changes.

“I can’t really project what the commission’s outcome will be,” Diamond said.

However, FCC policy currently states satellite providers are not “required” to pick up Ottumwa stations, they just have the “option.”

“The only ones who can put pressure on the satellite providers [are] the subscribers,” Little said. “It’s the bigger markets that are being taken care of. There are still plenty of parts of the country that can’t get local [stations] into local [satellite service].”

Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.

Comments about satellite television to the FCC can be directed to: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi