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FCC Hatches Plan to Re-regulate Cable TV

Finds cable giants too dominant in market

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 10, 2007 8:53 AM CST

(Newser) – The FCC is taking aim at cable television giants, finding that they have become too dominant, and is preparing to impose new regulations that would open the market to competition, the New York Times reports. Among proposals on the table is a cap that would block continued growth by the likes of Comcast and Time Warner. The regs would make it easier for independent programmers and rival video services to get traction.

With its finding that the market has become anti-competitive, the FCC departs from its policy since cable was deregulated in 1996 and bucks the trend in the Bush administration toward further deregulation—including its own plan to relax rules on newspaper, TV, and radio ownership. Champions of the move cite as results a better variety of programming and lower prices for consumers.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin speaks during a hearing on localism, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007,  at the FCC headquarters in Washington. Federal regulators on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, approved a rule that would ban exclusive agreements that cable television operators have with apartment buildings, opening up competition for...
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin speaks during a hearing on localism, Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, at the FCC headquarters in Washington. Federal regulators on Wednesday, Oct....   (Associated Press)
A sign bearing Comcast's name hangs in the lobby of its state headquarters in Sandy, Utah. in this Nov. 3, 2005 file photo.  Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable TV systems operator, could be prevented from growing further if the FCC opens the cable market.  (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, file)
A sign bearing Comcast's name hangs in the lobby of its state headquarters in Sandy, Utah. in this Nov. 3, 2005 file photo. Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable TV systems operator, could be prevented...   (Associated Press)
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