Word: fcc
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...present industry arrangements on several fronts in Washington. The measures include a bill introduced last month by Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, chairman of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, that would limit the number of subscribers that any system operator could control to 25% of the total U.S. cable audience. The FCC, meanwhile, is preparing a report on the impact of cable deregulation that is due out next year. In a separate action, the agency has begun reviewing a rule that bars broadcast networks from owning cable systems. The networks already have interests in cable channels that range from NBC's month...
Experts say it is unlikely that Congress will seriously consider changing its hands-off policy toward cable before the FCC completes its in-depth report. Nor do Washington watchers detect any ground swell of enthusiasm for efforts to roll back the 1984 legislation that deregulated the industry. Says a Senate staffer who keeps a close watch on cable developments: "There's a feeling of 'If it ain't broke...
Most pervasive, however, has been the use of "kinder, gentler." Since August, journalists have conjured up the images of a kinder, gentler Congress, Soviet Union, FCC, sitcom and leveraged buyout. The Washington Post even reported that the IRS was preparing a "kinder, gentler 1040." New York Times columnist William Safire feels that the epidemic (to which TIME itself has not been immune) has taken hold because journalists need such pithy lines to play on. Says Safire: "It's catnip, and we're all cats...
...greatly increase the number of channels brought into the home. Fiber optics will make possible a new array of home services, such as video shopping and information retrieval. The technology could come more quickly, moreover, if telephone companies are allowed to transmit cable programming over fiber- optic lines; the FCC is contemplating asking Congress to permit just that...
...currently being developed by companies in the U.S., Europe and Japan, will provide a picture of much greater resolution and clarity than present ones have. But many different systems are competing for acceptance, and some could not be delivered over broadcast TV without major retooling. Last month, however, the FCC ruled that any HDTV system approved for transmission in the U.S. must not render existing TV sets obsolete. That seems to ensure that the networks will not be left...