Book Review: Deregulation of Gable Television

• Author: Leland L. Johnson
• Date: 01 December 1978
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X7802300409
• Published date: 01 December 1978
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Paul

W. MacAvoy (ed.), Deregulation

of

Cable Television,

Washington, D.C.: American

Enterprise

Institute

for

Public Policy Research (1976),169 pp., $3.75.

This volume consists of a useful

set

of documents on cable

television regulation, collected by

President

Ford's

Domestic

Council Review Group on

Regulatory

Reform

(DCRG) from

mid-1975

through

early

1976. The volume contains sufficient

explanatory

material,

yet

delves deeply enough into key is-

sues, to serve well the needs of the

layman

unfamiliar

with

the

history

of cable television. The professional will also

find

it

auseful reference,

particularly

with

respect to addi-

tional kinds of research needed to shed

light

on effects of

deregulation.

It

is divided into

four

parts.

First,

Kenneth

Robinson

deals briefly with the

history

of regulation of the

industry

by the

Federal

Communications Commission. Cable tele-

vision involves the use of coaxial cable

strung

on utility poles

or placed

underground

to deliver television signals directly

to subscribers who

pay

amonthly charge. Cable service im-

proves the quality of reception of locally broadcast signals,

and with

its

large

channel capacity

(a)

permits

the importa-

tion of

"distant

signals"

from

broadcast

stations

too

far

away

to reach the subscriber over-the-air

and

(b)

permits

programs

to be

originated

directly by the cable

operator

or

by the

other

groups

having

access to the cable network. Among

the

current

or

past

restrictions

imposed by the FCC,

(a)

cable systems

are

permitted

to

carry

only alimited number

of

distant

signals

thereby

reducing competition

that

local

broadcast stations would otherwise face in

attracting

audi-

ences; (b)

under

"leap-frogging" rules,

for

any

distant

signal

of a class (whether network affiliated or independent) the

cable system is

permitted

to

carry,

it

has

been required to

select the

nearest

broadcast

station

of

that

class;

and

(c)

under

"pay

cable" rules, cable systems offering on a

per-

channel or

per-program

basis special

programs

at

an

addi-

tional

charge

to viewers have been prohibited (with some

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