C
Cable television
Definition Television distribution system in which
programming is delivered to subscribers from a
centralized provider through fixed optical fibers
or coaxial cables
Cable television began as a means to bring television pro-
gramming to people who lived in rural areas where broad-
cast signals could not be received easily, but during the
1990’s cable television joined broadcasting and telephone
service as a telecommunications giant.
By the 1990’s, cable television had become a perma-
nent fixture in popular culture. The average cable
subscriber could choose from a wide selection of ca-
ble programming that included basic networks such
as Music Television (MTV), Cable News Network
(CNN), and the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS)
and premium networks such as Disney, Home Box
Office (HBO), and Showtime. New and innovative
cable networks emerged that included children’s
programming on Nickelodeon, around-the-clock
sports on the Entertainment and Sports Network
(ESPN), original documentaries on the Discovery
Channel, gavel-to-gavel coverage of U.S. congressio-
nal activity on the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Net-
work (C-SPAN), and focused content such as Black
Entertainment Television (BET). Founded in 1991,
the Courtroom Television Network (Court TV) pro-
vided live coverage of high-profile trials such as the
1992 prosecution of murderer-cannibal Jeffrey
Dahmer, O. J. Simpson’s 1994 trial for the murders
of his former wife and her friend, and the 1996 trial
of Lyle and Erik Menendez for the murders of
their parents. CNN established itself as a major
news competitor with its live coverage of the 1991
Gulf War.
Cable television was so well established by the
1990’s that it was home to the 1992 U.S. presiden-
tial campaign’s key moments. Texas businessman
H. Ross Perot announced his intention to run for
U.S. president as a third-party candidate on CNN’s
Larr y King Liveand Democratic Party nominee
Bill Clinton appeared on MTV.
Cable Regulation During the 1990’s, the cable in-
dustry fluctuated between periods of government
regulation and deregulation. From 1984 to 1992, ca-
ble operators enjoyed a brief period of deregulation
in which they were allowed to set their own rates. Be-
cause the cable industry did not have any real local
competition, local providers quickly became virtual
monopolies in the communities that they served. As
a result, cable rates increased dramatically between
November, 1986, and April, 1991.
Responding to cable subscribers’ complaints
about steadily increasing cable rates, Congress
passed the Cable Television Consumer Protection
and Competition Act of 1992 (overriding President
George H. W. Bush’s veto). This act reregulated
cable by controlling the rates for cable companies’
basic-tier services, composed of the broadcast sta-
tions in their area and their public access channels.
Cable operators were also required to offer an ex-
panded basic service composed primarily of broad-
cast stations with broad appeal, such as the Family
Channel and USA Network. For an extra fee, cable
subscribers could also receive premium cable pro-
gramming such as HBO and Showtime.
The period of the reregulation of the cable indus-
try under the 1992 cable act, however, was short-lived.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 returned the
cable industry to the government’s pre-1992 deregu-
lation philosophy by phasing out regulation on all
but the lowest level of cable service after March,
1999.
Competition and Mergers Deregulation and tech-
nological changes in the late 1990’s helped to in-
crease competition in the cable industry. The 1992
cable act had eliminated many of the barriers to
competition by opening what had once been exclu-
sive cable programming to other distribution tech-
nologies such as wireless cable, telephone compa-
nies, and the emerging direct satellite broadcast