F.C.C. Planning Rules to Open Cable Market

F.C.C. Planning Rules to Open Cable Market

By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: November 10, 2007

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to impose significant new regulations to open the cable television market to independent programmers and rival video services after determining that cable companies have become too dominant in the industry, senior commission officials said.

The finding, under a law that gives the commission expanded powers over the cable television industry if it becomes too big, is expected to be announced this month. It is a major departure for the agency and the industry, which was deregulated by an act of Congress in 1996.

Officials say the finding could lead to more diverse programs; consumer groups say it could also lead to lower rates.

Heavily promoted by those groups and by the commission’s Republican chairman, Kevin J. Martin, the decision would be a notable exception to the broad deregulatory policies of the Bush administration. Officials in various agencies have relaxed industry regulations and have chosen not to challenge big corporate mergers.

“The finding will provide the commission with additional authority to assure that there is opportunity for additional voices,” Mr. Martin said Friday in an interview. “It is important that we continue to do all we can to make sure that consumers have more opportunities in terms of their programming and that people who have access to the platform assure there are diverse voices.”

The commission’s conclusion that the cable industry has grown too large will be used to justify a raft of new cable television rules and proposals. They include a cap that would prevent the nation’s largest cable company, Comcast Corporation, from growing, and would prevent other large cable companies, like Time Warner, from making any new large cable acquisitions.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/washington/10cable.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

but then again, FCC controls on radio and broadcast ownership concentration has worked out _so_ well.