The FCC and Five Years of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984: Tuning Out the Consumer?

The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (the "Cable Act") was a comprehensive amendment to the Communications Act of 1934. The Cable Act established the national policy for the regulation of the cable television industry. The focus of the Cable Act and the administrative rules implementing the act has been on the relationship between franchising municipal authorities and cable television operators. Congress addressed some consumer issues in the Cable Act such as subscriber privacy, commercial access channels, and public, educational, and governmental ("PEG") channels.