TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Cable TV Advertising (was 'Transitional Fair Use'...)

Cable TV Advertising (was 'Transitional Fair Use'...)

Neal McLain (nmclain@annsgarden.com)
Fri, 17 Dec 2004 21:32:09 -0600

PAT wrote [TD 23:602]:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you remember *many, many*
> years ago when cable television was first getting underway how
> 'they' said cable would be a better deal 'since there would not
> be any commercials; it is all paid for by your cable fees'.

Huh? That's not the way I remember it. Who's the 'they' that told
you that?

From 1948 to 1975 (before communications satellites existed) cable TV
systems carried programming from two sources: "local origination" and
television broadcast stations. Local-origination programming was
non-broadcast programming produced either by the cable operator or by
local "access" organizations. Broadcast stations fell into two
loosely-defined categories: "local" stations, which potential
subscribers could receive off-the-air, and "distant" stations which
the average viewer couldn't receive without an elaborate antenna.

Distant broadcast stations which didn't duplicate local stations were
the cable operator's bread and butter. Cable operators usually
carried local stations in an effort to offer a complete lineup (and
because FCC rules made such carriage mandatory for most cable
systems). But local stations didn't help sell cable subscriptions:
only distant broadcast stations which subscribers couldn't receive
off-the-air -- particularly commercial independents like WOR-TV and
WGN-TV -- would induce potential subscribers to sign up for cable.

Cable operators went to great lengths to "import" distant stations.
Tall towers, some exceeding 1000 feet, were erected just to support
receiving antennas. Many cable operators constructed microwave links
to import distant stations. Some cable operators even constructed
antenna sites on mountaintops so remote that they couldn't be reached
except by helicopter.

The FCC's "manner of carriage" rules governed how cable systems could
carry television stations. One fundamental rule that was established
in those days (and that remains in place to this day) stated that,
unless specifically permitted by some other FCC rule, the cable TV
system must carry each broadcast signal in its entirely, without any
interruption or substitution.

In other words, the cable system **shall carry** all commercial and
political messages transmitted by the originating station, and shall
not delete or alter any such message.

This rule applied even to non-commercial educational (NCE) stations.
Although these stations didn't carry commercials, they did carry
program promos and solicitations for contributions.

Local programming was governed under FCC different rules.

- Any sort of paid commercial or political advertising was
prohibited on any channel designated by franchise as a
public, educational, or government access channel.

- Advertising was permitted on channels controlled by cable
operators, and many cable operators accepted commercial
and political messages. Even character-generated "message
board" channels carried advertising.

Given this history, I don't see how it's possible that anyone familiar
with the industry could have claimed that "there would not be any
commercials; it is all paid for by your cable fees." Without distant
independent commercial stations like WGN-TV and WOR-TV, the cable
industry wouldn't have had a salable product.

Neal McLain

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