N.Y. PBS Law § 222

§ 222. Transfer, renewal or amendment of franchises and transfer of\ncontrol over franchises and system properties. 1. No transfer, renewal\nor amendment of any franchise, or any transfer of control of a franchise\nor certificate of confirmation or of facilities constituting a\nsignificant part of any cable television system shall be effective\nwithout the prior approval of the commission. Such approval shall be\nrequired in addition to any municipal approval required under the\nfranchise or by law. For the purposes of this section, a merger or\nconsolidation of two or more cable television companies shall be deemed\nto be a transfer of the franchises or certificates granted to such\ncompanies.\n 2. A person wishing to transfer, renew or amend a franchise, or to\ntransfer control of a franchise or of a substantial part of the\nfacilities thereof shall file with the commission an application for\napproval of such change, in such form and containing such information\nand supporting documents as the commission may require. The application\nshall be accompanied by proof of service thereof upon the franchisor, if\nany, and by such fee as the commission may set. The commission may hold\na public hearing on any such application as set forth in subdivision two\nof section two hundred twenty-one of this article.\n 3. The commission shall approve the application unless it finds that\nthe applicant, the proposed transferee or the cable television system\ndoes not conform to the standards established in the regulations\npromulgated by the commission pursuant to section two hundred fifteen of\nthis article or that approval would be in violation of law, any\nregulation or standard promulgated by the commission or the public\ninterest, provided however, that a failure to conform to the standards\nestablished in the regulations promulgated by the commission shall not\npreclude approval of any such application if the commission finds that\nsuch approval would serve the public interest.\n 4. The commission may approve the application contingent upon\ncompliance with standards, terms or conditions set by the commission\nwhich it determines would not have been met by the proposed transfer,\nrenewal or amendment.\n 5. In the event the commission refuses to approve the application, it\nshall set forth in writing the reasons for its decision.\n 6. Approval of a transfer, renewal or amendment under this section\nshall not preclude invalidation of a franchise illegally obtained.\n