Logo

Cablevision Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Rule on Must-Carry

Jan 29, 2010  •  Post A Comment

Cablevision made its formal request to have the Supreme Court review the constitutionality of the must-carry rules, B&C reports.

In its filing the cable operator notes that earlier rulings that passed by a narrow margin might not go the same way today, given that “vibrant competition” has replaced earlier fears of a cable monopoly.

The case that sparked Cablevision’s quest is a recent Second Circuit decision which upheld an FCC mandate that the cable operator carry station WRNN, a small TV station in Kingston, New York.

–Elizabeth Jensen

3 Comments

  1. “In its filing the cable operator notes that earlier rulings that passed by a narrow margin might not go the same way today, given that “vibrant competition” has replaced earlier fears of a cable monopoly.”
    This is nothing but B.S. from the corporate cable “Goliaths”. What they’re not saying is that the reason it “might not go the same way” is actually because of the pro-corporate direction the Alito/Roberts Supreme Court has taken with complete disregard for precedence and/or Stare decisis.
    What a complete load of horse crap!!

  2. Broadcasting is at any point in time a zero sum game. Competition for viewership is the watchword. Why should any cable (or satellite) organization be strapped by a must carry rule that supports facilities which enjoy little or no following (viewership)? The same argument holds for the never watched “access”, “school district”, “community” channel allocations forced on cable operators by pea-brained politicians. And while we’re talking about political waste and power plays … let’s get rid of NPR and PBS. Each is in part tax supported … neither enjoys substantial following — in fact neither is even bipartisan. Beyond that, with the plethora of programming options available their usefulness is clearly dated.

  3. The airwaves belong to the public, not the cable operators. In our community, community channels are viewed more during election cycles, when controversial local issues come up and to follow high school sports. Comcast does a nice job of providing the necessary studio and digital TV equipment and still manages to make a good buck: Enough to buy NBCU! As to NPR and PBS, the fact that they don’t rely on advertisers provides them with the ability to air programming based on value vs. advertising dollars. The long list of awards and loyal national following prove the concept. The public airwaves need to remain open to the public and if a network, channel or local service operates within the FCC guidelines and rules, it has as much right to reach every home at the end of the pipe as any network owned and operated by a cable or satellite service. The radical fringe on the Supreme Court has already demonstrated that they’ve sold out to big corporate power. It is time for the Dems to get some spine and pass the laws to correct any injustices put on the American people by the “justices.”

Leave a Reply to OldTraveler Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)