Satellite and Cable
| Author | Jeffrey Wilson |
| Pages | 1341-1345 |
Page 1341
To begin to comprehend the issues and the many laws and regulations related to satellite and cable industries in the United States, one must first understand a bit about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Congress created the FCC when it enacted the Communications Act of 1934. The Act was intended in part to help regulate interstate and foreign commerce in communications via wire and radio to help make available a rapid, efficient, nationwide, and worldwide wire and radio communications service. Note that the term "radio" has been interpreted in its most inclusive sense to also apply to television. The FCC has grown into a very large governmental agency, and its functions have expanded to include oversight of the satellite and cable telecommunications media. Questions about satellite or cable laws or regulations are most likely addressed by the FCC.
The FCC has five commissioners, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, who oversee the operations of the agency. There are various operating bureaus under the commissioners, one of which is the Mass Media Bureau. Different bureaus within the FCC regulate different aspects of telecommunications media. For example, the Mass Media Bureau regulates amplitude and frequency modulation, low-power television, and direct broadcast satellite. The Common Carrier Bureau regulates telephone and cable operations.
The FCC licenses new broadcast stations based on the needs of communities in a given region and on technical engineering considerations that prevent interference between stations. The FCC must approve a host of activities by broadcasters, including allocations of new stations and applications to build, modify, renew, or sell a station. When the FCC considers an application for any of these activities, it tries to determine if granting the request serves the public interest. This kind of review is required by the Communications Act.
The FCC expects stations to manifest an awareness of the important problems or issues in the communities they serve by presenting programming and/or announcements about local issues. In the end,
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though, it is broadcasters and not the FCC (or any other government agency) who are responsible for selecting all the content of their programs. The Communications Act and parts of the U.S. Constitution prohibit the FCC from censoring broadcast content. These considerations limit the FCC's role in overseeing the content of programming. But the FCC is permitted to levy fines on a station or revoke its license if the station has violated any of the following three considerations:
restrictions on indecent programming
limits on the number of commercials aired during children's programming
rules involving candidates for public office
The FCC's authority differs greatly regarding standard broadcast television stations and other types of television channels such as cable television. Cable television channels are available by subscription only; they cannot be received over the air. Consequently, cable operators are subject to a different set of FCC rules than broadcast television stations. A broadcast television station on a cable system is regulated as a broadcast station.
The FCC enforces regulations designed to promote competition among cable companies, satellite companies, and other firms offering video programming services to the general public. This competition-promotion function includes a variety of issues such as the following:
commercial availability of set-top boxes
commercial leased access
mandatory carriage of television broadcast signals
open video systems
over-the-air reception devices
program access
the accessibility of closed captioning and video description on television programming
More specific information about these functions can be found on the FCC's website, http://www.fcc.gov.
Basically, decisions concerning what services to offer and most other programming decisions are within the discretion of the cable operator. The FCC is powerless to address most complaints against cable...
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