FCC Considers Capping Cable Ownership

The Federal Communications Commission is considering limiting a single company's ownership of the U.S. cable TV market to 30 percent - and Comcast is not happy.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Reuters, and other industry sources, the Federal Communications Commission is considering placing a limit on how much of the U.S. cable television market can be owned by a single company. The number the FCC is considering is apparently 30 percent—which doesn’t have cable giant Comcast very happy, since it currently accounts for about 27 percent of the U.S. cable market.

The proposal has not yet been revealed to the public.

According to industry sources, FCC chairman Kevin Martin may put the matter to a vote before the end of the year; if so, he appears to have enough support on the five-member commission to enact the regulation, including Democrats Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps.

If the FCC were to enact an ownership cap on the U.S. cable market, companies like Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter Communications would likely sue the FCC. A federal appeals court threw out a seemingly-identical rule in 2001, saying the FCC did not have enough evidence to justify such regulation of the cable television industry. However, since that time, the FCC has conducted additional research into the market (including two rounds of public comments) and may be able to present a stronger case for an ownership cap.