Cable Fights Push for Regulation

Concerned that their industry could face government re-regulation, cable television executives stressed today that their industry is competitive and offers viewers ample choice at reasonable cost.

“We really are not the bad guys. We’re not out to build an empire,” John Malone, chairman of Denver-based TeleCommunications Inc., one of the nation’s largest cable television operators, told a Senate subcommittee on communications.

The testimony came during the first of two days of hearings that the subcommittee is holding to examine the effect of the 1984 Cable Telecommunications Act, which largely deregulated the cable industry.

The day before the hearings began, Sen. Jack C. Danforth (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to regulate the rates of local cable systems that do not face effective competition.

“I think any consideration of re-regulation is premature and would have a negative impact on the industry,” said James Robbins, president of Cox Cable Communications, the Atlanta cable giant.