Q & A : What Cable Bill Means for Viewers

After three years of legislative efforts, cable TV re-regulation may finally become reality.

Earlier this week, the Senate voted 74 to 25 to adopt a cable TV re-regulation bill that the House approved by a 280-128 vote a week earlier. Although President Bush has told congressional leaders that he intends to veto the bill, the wide margins in its passage suggest that Bush may suffer his first veto override.

Here are some answers to basic questions about the bill:

Q. How does the bill affect what I pay for cable TV?

A. That’s difficult to say because there are still many unresolved issues.

In the short term, cable TV costs are likely to stabilize and possibly go down, if for no other reason than the heat the cable industry has taken for raising rates an average of 60% since deregulation began in 1987.

Over the long term, however, the bill could pave the way for added costs to cable TV operators, which would then be passed along to subscribers. But analysts debate the degree and extent of these additional costs.

Q. How will the bill change what I see on TV?

A. In theory, some local TV channels could be dropped if cable systems and local broadcasters cannot agree on mutual terms.

Analysts, however, believe that this is a remote possibility since it’s in cable’s best interests to carry local broadcast stations. Dropping local channels would only alienate customers.

Q. Will I get more channels?

A. Probably, but that would have happened anyway. Many cable TV companies plan to significantly upgrade their channel capacity over the next several years by using high-technology fiber optics and video compression systems.

In addition, the phone companies are fighting to get into the cable TV business, which would provide a second video pipeline into the home.

The bill forces cable companies to make their programming available to emerging competitors, such as satellite broadcasters and microwave distributors, but these companies still face enormous economic and marketing hurdles.

Q. When will the new cable TV legislation go into effect?

A. Assuming that President Bush’s promised veto is overridden by Congress, then the FCC has six months to establish guidelines for basic cable TV rates and customer service standards.

The Consumer Federation of America’s Gene Kimmelman predicts that some customers will see lower bills within one year.