FCC's Martin encounters resistance to 70-percent ruling
By Steven Kim 
posted Nov 26th 2007 2:44PM
posted Nov 26th 2007 2:44PM
It's no secret that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has big plans for tomorrow's meeting of the FCC. There are several proposals on the agenda that will impact on the cable industry if passed, but the most ominous for the cable industry is the imposition of the "70% rule." This bit of legislation grants the FCC more regulatory power over cable operators and programmers if cable penetration in the U.S. reaches 70%. Martin has cited a figure of 71.4% from an annual publication put out by Warren Communications News, but that number is couched with claims that the measurement is "accurate but not reliable" due to incomplete information disclosed by some cable operators. With a disclaimer like that, it's no wonder that the majority of FCC members have sought out external validation on the numbers. Lo and behold, a Wall Street analyst has emerged to say the figure is no higher than 60.5% based on SEC filings of the eight publicly traded operators. Expect some back-and-forth over the numbers tomorrow!
they better not be trying to censor my cable tv more. I pay for cable, so i hope thats not the goal here. Free tv i can deal with them even though i don't think they should censor cable at all, with everyone going digital eventually the big 6 (abc, cbs, nbc, fox, cw, mytv(fox) ) will all go to cable and dish only. and cable has many parental permission mesures in place to help parents with their kids tv habbits.
As long as my tv isnt being screwed with im happy. By regulations if it just involves the fcc cracking down on cable and dish from over charging its customers im cool, but cencorship is just wrong.
with everyone going digital eventually the big 6 (abc, cbs, nbc, fox, cw, mytv(fox) ) will all go to cable and dish only.
That makes no sense. Have you ever heard about OTA Digital broadcast?
I would actually prefer if the FCC had more control on cable companies. Maybe then we could see the cable companies be required to play nice with 3rd party DVR's such as MythTV. Currently the FCC requires OTA broadcasts to be free of any copy protection it would be nice to have the same requirements on all cable channels via firewire ports.
My thoughts.
Mitchell
What the hull is "accurate but not reliable"? It sounds like doublespeak to me.
I don't see anything in the articles about censoring, though I don't get this part about forcing operators to carry expensive channels. I wouldn't want any operator to be forced to carry NFL's channel. As much as I don't like the cable operators, NFL is a bit too arrogant about their channel.
The FCC's rationale for existing is to mete out and regulate a scarce resource, that is, the airwaves.
So why do they have any input on cable at all? I could run a hundred cable connections into my home or business and still have room for a hundred more.
More government out of control.
Hear hear, Ben.