Cable Questions: Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman...

Cable Questions: Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, said it is time to make cable TV accountable to viewers and municipal authorities and has asked FCC Chairman Dennis R. Patrick to review the 1984 law that freed the cable industry of federal regulation. Dingell said in a speech to the Assn. of Independent Television Stations that the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 was based on the proposition that competition would be sufficient to protect the public interest. Now, he said, “it is time to look at cable since deregulation and determine whether the anticipated competition and consequent protection of consumers have, in fact materialized.”