PMCM Mandamus Requests Dismissed by D.C. Circuit

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed two mandamus petitions from PMCM related to its appeal of an FCC Media Bureau ruling concerning what virtual channel PMCM’s WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, can be carried on. PMCM had asked the D.C. Circuit to compel the bureau to assign a virtual channel to the station, and to compel the FCC to require the station to be carried on channel 3 on cable systems where PMCM elects must-carry status.The appeals relate to PMCM’s attempt to use the same main program and system information protocol channel as Meredith’s WFSB Hartford. Since the bureau assigned the station a virtual channel in June, PMCM’s first request is moot, the D.C. Circuit ruled. The channel 3 mandamus was denied because PMCM didn't demonstrate a “clear and indisputable right” to such relief, the order said. A lawyer for PMCM had no immediate comment.