The 4 other FCC commissioners won’t discuss their views on a 30% ...
The 4 other FCC commissioners won’t discuss their views on a 30% cable system ownership limit that Chmn. Martin discussed at an investor conference last week. Aides to the other commissioners said their bosses were unavailable or had no…
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comment on Martin’s opinion that lifting nationwide cable system ownership caps might not benefit consumers (CD Sept 15 p2). A probable reason the commissioners aren’t talking is that there’s no order circulating on the 8th floor about adjusting the limits, said several Commission staffers. The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., remanded the cap to the Commission in 2001. Comcast is the only cable operator that can’t make significant acquisitions without “running afoul of the 30% cap,” Stanford Group’s Paul Gallant wrote in a note Sept. 15: “Comcast would have difficulty growing larger absent a willingness to agree to FCC merger conditions, which might include passing through quantifiable cost reductions from the merger.”