FCC watching cable TV closely
The FCC will be voting on stricter regulations for cable TV. But some critics say tighter restrictions could mean price controls or more limited programming. John Dimsdale reports.
Satellites picking up signals (iStockPhoto.com)
More on Entertainment, Politics
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: The Federal Communications Commission is supposed to vote today on stricter regulations for cable TV. The Wall Street Journal says that vote could be delayed. There's some internal squabbling at the FCC, and the White House doesn't like what the agency is up to. John Dimsdale explains what's at stake here.
John Dimsdale: In the 1980's, Congress decided once TV cables reached 70 percent of the nation's households, and if 70 percent of them chose cable, it was time to trim cable's sails.
The Media Access Project's Andrew Schwartzman says companies breached that threshold several years ago:
Andrew Schwartzman: It's long past time when the FCC should be cracking down on cable ownership, diversity of programming and making the cable industry more responsive.
The FCC chairman agrees, and is calling on other commissioners to vote to pull the so-called 70-70 trigger.
But once that happens, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's Kyle McSlarrow worries the FCC will impose price controls.
Kyle McSlarrow: The last time the FCC regulated prices it was devastating to consumers, because it just stopped investment and innovation cold.
Consumers may pay less, but get less programming, he says.
In Washington, I'm John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.