Justice Dept. Opposed to TV-Cable Pact

The Justice Department Friday recommended rejection of a controversial agreement between the nation’s broadcasters and the cable television industry that would limit the number of local channels cable systems would be required to carry.

The department said that the industry proposal, which has been submitted for approval to the Federal Communications Commission, would impose “significant restrictions” on cable operators’ programming decisions and “compromise the discretion and the ability of cable operators to respond to subscriber demand.”

Says Not Justified

“A nationwide rule that bears no relationship to the competitive circumstances in individual markets cannot be justified as necessary to counter possible anti-competitive abuses by cable operators,” the department said. “These abuses are likely to be rare and can be dealt with on an ad hoc basis.”

The compromise plan between the broadcasters and the cable TV industry, announced in February, would require cable systems with more than 20 channels to carry a certain number of locally broadcast television signals.

However, several FCC commissioners already have expressed concerns publicly about the proposal, and filings at the agency by Justice Department officials and others Friday--the deadline for public comments--indicate that the controversy is far from over.

In its filing, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Commerce Department agency, said that the industry plan should be rejected because it “would only protect those who do not need protection and ignore those who do.” The information agency suggested that cable systems be required to carry all public broadcasting signals, a provision not included in the industry plan.

Public broadcast officials have staunchly opposed the compromise, arguing that they were not fairly represented in negotiations. Other critics have alleged that the plan protects larger broadcasters because local TV stations must have a certain market share if their signal is to be carried on cable TV.

One source at the FCC said: “It is a proposed solution that the industry participants decided would be in their own interest. The commission must evaluate whether it is also in the public interest.”

The industry agreement followed a July, 1985, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals here that struck down the “must-carry” rules that required cable TV systems to include all major local broadcast channels. Those rules were imposed by the FCC in the 1960s to protect local broadcasters as the cable industry expanded.

The cable industry hailed the court’s ruling, but broadcasters vowed a major challenge to the decision. After months of negotiations, a compromise was signed by the National Assn. of Broadcasters, the Assn. of Independent Television Stations, the Television Operators Caucus, the National Cable Television Assn. and the Community Antenna Television Assn.

However, under the industry plan now being proposed, a cable TV system with fewer than 20 channels would not have to carry any local TV stations. Cable systems with 21 to 26 channels would set aside up to seven channels for local TV stations.

In addition, the proposal would require systems with more than 27 channels to set aside up to 25 channels for local TV stations. The compromise also would give cable operators some discretion in selecting which TV stations they would carry.

In its comments filed Friday, the Turner Broadcasting System urged the FCC to reject the compromise because it is unconstitutional and “inhibits the distribution of diverse programming to the public.”

Attorneys for the Atlanta-based company alleged that the compromise puts the government in the position of favoring broadcasters over other media groups, including such cable programmers as Turner.