The Wild West of cable television may soon have a new sheriff in town, if the FCC follows through with proposed rules that would strengthen its grip on the industry. The new rules would dictate the prices cable companies charge smaller companies to get channels, with the intent of opening the door for more varied programming.
According to the Washington Post, the reexamination of cable television comes from the 1984 Cable Act that freed the fledgling cable companies from much regulation at the time it passed, but also indicated that regulation could kick in when 70 percent of U.S. households subscribe to cable, a figure that quickly approaches.
Ultimately, further FCC control of cable television could lead to “a la carte” cable packages, which would allow consumers to subscribe only to the channels they want. Cable companies and those that produce content for the channels insist this model would put smaller channels out of business, but it has support from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
None of the surveys that have attempted to nail down the exact number of cable subscribers in the United States have yet indicated that the country has reached the 70 percent mark. However, some speculate that including cable delivered through phone companies in the figures could take the total number of subscribers over the top.
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