Aspects of the Cable TV Industry

Ever since the first broadcast television signals were retransmitted via wire from well-placed master antennas to the residents of Astoria, Oregon, and Lansford, Pennsylvania, in early 1949, cable television has been tied to the history of telegraphy and telephony in the United States. The primary undisputed function of cable television from its infancy has been to deliver a viewable television picture to subscribers in areas which are geographically or economically (from the broadcaster's perspective) isolated from the reception of normal broadcast television transmissions.

As technology improves, cable television is assuming functions which have long since taken it from the realm of simply delivering a handful of relatively local TV stations to providing two-way, interactive services including access to the Internet and more. Once misunderstood simply as "pay TV," the copper wire and/or fiberoptic cable infrastructure now passes about 95 percent of all U.S. households (the remaining five percent continue to be located in the most rural, most expensive to reach areas), wireless cable systems serve many major markets, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services offer as many as 150 channel choices to consumers (Crandall, 1996, p. 27). Although cable penetration has yet to exceed the 70 percent mark (Mandese, 1994, p. S-2), subscriber growth remains steady at 3.5-4 percent annually (Oneal, 1995, p. 75), and as the carnival barkers used to exclaim, "Folks, you ain't seen

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1995, the combined prices of at least eight cable companies surged ahead nearly 25 percent (Oneal, 1995, p. 74). The 1996 Telecommunications Act became law on February 8, 1996 (Reuben, 1996, p. 46), and the floodgates of both the regulatory and technological environments which have long stifled competition in the delivery of video and data services to American households are about to be thrown wide open. The single biggest obstacle overhauled in the new legislation: cross-ownership of telephone/cable services. Upon implementation of the new law, cable companies and telephone companies were immediately freed to enter into each other's businesses. According to Browning (1996), "the most exciting and innovative forms of communication can come only from allowing all to commingle and compete. The bill's achievement is that it breaks down the barriers between markets to permit just such competition" (p. 33). (There is significant regulatory language governing specific aspects including the creation of platforms such as video dialtone, "must carry" rules, access to systems, or acquisition of cable systems by telephone companies. However, the ability of telephone or cable systems to provide a broad range of telecommunications se

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