NCTA President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow issued the following statement in advance of today’s FCC Meeting:

 

“We are pleased that a majority of Commissioners again rejected a plan to consider a multicast must carry mandate. Consumers will be better served if we could all focus on getting ready for the digital broadcast transition instead of repeatedly having to reject stale ideas that would harm consumers, undermine the digital transition and violate the Constitution.

 

“However, in 2001, the U.S. Court of Appeals soundly rejected on First Amendment grounds the precise cable ownership cap that the Commission adopted again today. The Court of Appeals found such a cap to be unjustified and out of touch with the competitive marketplace as it existed six years ago. In the intervening years, competition among satellite, telephone and cable companies and the variety and amount of independent programming has only increased. We are confident that a court will again reject conclusions driven by a political agenda to target the cable industry that are completely at odds with the realities of a dynamic and competitive marketplace that is providing greater consumer choice and value.”

 

Yesterday, the FCC voted to allow media companies to own both a television station and a newspaper in the largest 20 U.S. broadcast markets. Russell Shaw has more in his RSS – Regulations, Statutes and Standards blog.