Bells, Cable Likely To Face Off On Second Front: 1992 Cable Act

BELLS, CABLE LIKELY TO FACE OFF ON SECOND FRONT: 1992 CABLE ACT
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
Bell telecommunications companies fighting with cable operators over whether they should be allowed to circumvent municipal video franchises are likely to soon begin clashing on a new legislative front: revisions to a 1992 law governing access to television programming. The 1992 Cable Act created a "program access" requirement that generally requires cable operators to share channels distributed over satellites with direct broadcast satellite systems and other cable competitors. The law helped jumpstart the satellite television industry with programming such as CNN and HBO. The programming issue comes to a head as other business, regulatory and TV-viewing issues converge on Washington. Those factors include the start of the baseball season, commercial disputes between Verizon Communications and a cable operator, and the proposed acquisition of Adelphia Communications by Comcast and Time Warner. Although the programming fight would pit the Bells against cable operators, they could have allies: satellite operators, independent television networks, and cable "over-builders," such as RCN Networks.
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