Industry Static Kills Cable Bill a 2nd Time

Last-minute phone calls by White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu and pressure by small cable companies have dashed hopes of reviving a legislative proposal to re-regulate cable television, one of the bill’s sponsors said Friday.

“Once again, the public has been ‘Sununu-ed,’ ” said Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.). “I used that word because I know for a fact that John Sununu made personal calls to Republican senators urging that holds be put on this legislation.”

The White House refused to comment, but the Bush Administration already was on record threatening to veto the bill if it were passed by both houses of Congress. The Administration opposed the bill in large part because it involves regulatory restrictions.

The basic problem the bill sought to address, according to supporters, is that cable rates have risen dramatically while service has deteriorated ever since the cable industry was deregulated in 1984.

The last-minute maneuvering involved a Senate bill that would have allowed the Federal Communications Commission to set rates for over-the-air broadcast stations that are carried on cable, a concern of rural Americans who cannot easily get broadcast reception without cable. The bill also would have empowered the FCC to review and roll back rates, if deemed excessive, for premium cable channels such as HBO, ESPN or CNN.

A similar bill already has passed the House.

But the authors of the Senate measure said that several Republican senators were refusing to let the bill come up for a vote after being pressured by the White House and by some small cable operators.

The bill appeared to have died two weeks ago, when Sen. Tim Wirth (D-Colo.) blocked it from coming to a vote. But Gore and Wirth worked out a compromise amendment last week that gave the bill another shot at floor consideration.

Both sides agree that the development of competing technology eventually will be the best way to ensure quality service and low pricing. But supporters of re-regulation contend that rival technologies are still years away and that some regulatory protection is necessary in the interim.