FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
FACT SHEET
                                        October  1995
                        CABLE TELEVISION FACT SHEET
                       PROGRAM CONTENT REGULATIONS
Q:  Does the FCC regulate the content of cable programming?
A:  Cable television system operators generally make their own selection of channels and
programs to be distributed to subscribers in response to consumer demands.  The
Commission does, however, have rules in some areas that are applicable to programming --
called "origination cablecasting" in the rules -- that is subject to the editorial control of the
system operator.  The rules generally do not apply to the contents of broadcast signals or
access channels over which the system operator has no editorial control.
Q:  What is the "equal opportunities" rule of political cablecasting?
A:  Once a cable system allows a legally qualified candidate to use (identifiable appearance
by voice or picture) its facilities, it must afford "equal opportunities" to all other legally
qualified candidates for that office to use its facilities.  The cable system may not censor the
content of the candidate's material in any way, and many not discriminate between candidates
in practices, regulations, facilities or services rendered pursuant to the equal opportunities
rules.
Candidates must submit requests for equal opportunities to the cable system within one week
after a rival candidate's first use of the cable system.  If the person was not a legally
qualified candidate at the time of the rival's first use, he or she may submit a request within
one week of the rival's next use of the cable system after he or she becoming a legally
qualified candidate.
Q:  Does a legally qualified candidate's appearance on a newscast trigger the equal
opportunities rule?
A:  No.  Candidate appearances which are exempt from the rules include appearances on a
bona fide newscast, bona fide news interview, bona fide news documentary, or on-the-spot
coverage of a bona fide news event.
Q:  How much can a cable system charge political candidates for advertising?
A:  Cable television systems may charge political candidates only the "lowest unit charge of
the station" for the same class and amount of time for the same period, during the 45 days
preceding a primary or runoff election and the 60 days preceding a general or special
election.  Candidates should be charged no more per unit than the system charges its most
favored commercial advertisers for the same classes and amounts of time for the same
periods.  Information concerning the rates, terms, conditions and all discounts and privileges
offered to commercial advertisers should be disclosed and made available to candidates.
Q:  What is the "Fairness Doctrine"?
A:  This doctrine requires a cable television system operator engaging in origination
cablecasting to afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on
controversial issues of public importance.  Although this requirement still appears in the
Commission's rules, it is no longer enforced as a consequence of a Commission proceeding
and a federal court's decision in Syracuse Peace Council v. FCC, 867 F. 2d 654 (D.C. Cir.
1989).
Q:  What can a person do if he or she is attacked personally on a cablecast?
A:  The personal attack rule applies when "an attack is made upon the honesty, character,
integrity, or like personal qualities of an identified person or group" during origination
cablecasting concerning controversial issues of public importance.  A cable system must give
the following to the person or group attacked within one week: notification and identification
of the cablecast; a script, tape or accurate summary of the attack; and an offer of a
reasonable opportunity to respond over the cable facilities.
Q:  What personal attacks are exempted?
A:  The rule exempts the following: (1) attacks by political candidates and their associates on
other candidates and their associates including attacks that occur during "uses" by candidates;
(2) attacks made during bona fide newscasts, bona fide news interviews, and on-the-spot
coverage of bona fide news events; and attacks on foreign groups or foreign public figures.
Q:  Can a cable system endorse or oppose a political candidate in an editorial?
A:  Yes, as long as it complies with the political editorial rule.  The rule requires the cable
system to give to the opposing candidates not endorsed or the candidate opposed the
following within 24 hours of a political editorial: notification and identification of the
editorial, a script or tape of the editorial, and an offer of a reasonable opportunity for the
candidate or his or her spokesman to respond over the cable facilities.  Where an editorial is
cablecast within 72 hours prior to election day, the cable system is obliged to give notice and
an opportunity to respond sufficiently far in advance to enable the candidate opposed or not
endorsed a reasonable opportunity to prepare a response and to present it in a timely fashion.
Q:  Can a cable system carry advertisements for lotteries?
A:  Cable systems are generally prohibited from transmitting information or advertisements
concerning lotteries or other schemes offering prizes dependent upon chance in exchange for
consideration.  The lottery rule exempts information about a state lottery cablecast by a
system located in that state or in another state which conducts a state lottery, or by a system
which is integrated with a cable system in such a state, if it is technically unable to terminate
the transmission to other states.  The rule also permits the cablecast of information about a
lottery or similar scheme that is not prohibited by the state in which it is conducted and
which is (1) conducted by a not-for-profit or governmental organization or (2) conducted by
a commercial organization and which is clearly occasional and ancillary to the organization's
primary business.  Information about gaming conducted pursuant to the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act is also exempt.
Q:  How can viewers tell when certain cable programming is paid for by a particular
person or group?
A:  The sponsorship identification rule requires the identification of the sponsor of any
cablecasting which is presented in exchange for money, service or "other valuable
consideration."  All political spots must contain a visual sponsorship identification in letters
equal to at least four percent of the screen height that are on the air for at least four seconds.
Where the cablecast advertises commercial products or services, a mention of the corporate
or trade name is considered sufficient.  Sponsorship identification announcements must also
be made before and after certain material if inducements are given to the cable system in
exchange for cablecasting the material.  Where political or controversial public issue spots
are sponsored by a corporation, committee, association or unincorporated group or entity, the
system operator must keep a list of the entity's governing officers or directors available for
public inspection at the system's local office for a period of two years.
Q:  How much advertising can a cable system transmit during children's programming?
A:  Cable operators may transmit no more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour
during children's programming on weekends and no more than 12 minutes of commercial
matter per hour on weekdays.  These limits were imposed pursuant to the Children's
Television Act of 1990, which restricted the amount of commercial matter that both
television broadcasters and cable operators may air on programs originally produced and
broadcast primarily for children 12 years old and younger.  Cable operators are responsible
for compliance with the commercial limits on locally originated programming and on cable
network programming, but are not responsible for compliance on passively transmitted
broadcast stations or on access channels over which the cable operator may not exercise
editorial control.  Cable systems must also maintain records available for public inspection
which document compliance with the rule.
Q:  Can a cable system carry ads for cigarettes?
A:  Advertisements for cigarettes, little cigars and smokeless tobacco are prohibited on any medium
of electronic communication subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission.
Laws against these types of advertising have criminal penalties and are administered by the U.S.
Department of Justice rather than by the Commission.
Q:  Under what conditions may a cable operator exercise editorial control over obscene and
indecent material?
A:  The 1992 Cable Act allows cable operators to voluntarily exercise editorial control over indecent
or obscene programming on access channels.
Q: What are access channels?
A: There are two types of access channels.  One type is known as leased access channels.  Leased
access channels are required to be provided by cable operators with 36 or more activated channels;
these channels are for commercial use by any person or organization not affiliated with the cable
operator.
The other type is the public, educational, and governmental (PEG) channel.  There is no
requirement that a cable operator make PEG channels available; however, the 1984 Act specifically
allows franchise authorities, if they so choose, to mandate that an operator provide PEG channels.
Q: Under what authority does the Commission issue its obscenity and indecency guidelines with
regard to access channels?
A: The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the Commission may regulate indecent speech
where broadcasting is concerned.  See FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).
Notwithstanding obscene or indecent programming, the Communications Act bars cable operators
from exercising editorial control over access channel programming.  However, where obscene or
indecent programming is concerned, the 1992 Cable Act allows -- but does not require -- a cable
operator to prohibit or limit obscene or indecent programming on access channels.
Q: Do the obscenity and indecency provisions of leased access allow a cable operator to bar
obscene or indecent material on commercial, non-access channels?
A: No.  Obscene material may be barred because it is not protected by the Constitution irrespective
of this particular provision of the Act.  Indecent material, however, is protected by the Constitution
and as such may be subject to certain restrictions if the government proves a compelling interest in
doing so.
Q: Is a cable operator subject to civil or criminal liability if it allows obscene or indecent
programming to be shown on its system?
A:  No.  The provisions of the 1992 Cable which would have made cable operators potentially liable
for indecent or obscene programming shown on their systems were struck down by a federal court
of appeals.  An appeal of this decision is likely.
Q: How have obscenity and indecency been defined?
A: Speech that meets each part of the test established in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) is
judged obscene: i) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would
find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interest; ii)
whether the work depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct specifically defined
by applicable state law; and iii) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
As for indecency, the Commission's generic definition is one that applies to language that describes,
in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast
medium, sexual or excretory activities and organs.
Q: Are there other provisions in federal law which penalize the showing of obscene material on
cable channels?
A: Yes.  Both 47 U.S.C. 559 and 18 U.S.C. 1468(a) respectively bar the transmission of obscene
material over a cable system and the knowing utterance or distribution of obscene matter by means
of a cable television system or subscription service.
Q: What does the 1992 Cable Act allow or require both the Commission and cable operators to
do with regard to access channel obscenity and indecency?
A: The 1992 Act made specific and distinct changes regarding leased access and PEG channels.
The Act allows a cable operator to voluntarily prohibit--consistent with a written and published
policy--indecent or obscene programming on leased access channels..  This policy would allow the
operator to prohibit programming it reasonably believes describes sexual or excretory activities or
organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by the cable medium's community standards
(based on the average subscriber to cable television nationally, not locally).
However, if the cable operator chooses not to exercise voluntary control it must take three steps to
minimize viewer access to obscene or indecent programming.  First, it must place all indecent
programs on a single channel;  second, the cable operator must block access to this channel unless a
subscriber over 18 makes a written request to access the channel; and third,
the operator must require that the programmer inform it of any program which would meet the
Commission's definition of indecent.
As for PEG channels, the Commission is required to develop regulations to voluntarily allow a cable
operator to prohibit PEG programming which contains obscene material, sexually explicit conduct,
or material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct.  "Obscene material" is defined according the
test set forth in the Miller case mentioned above; "sexually explicit conduct" is that which is
indecent according to the Commission's definition of that term; and "soliciting or promoting
unlawful conduct" is soliciting what would otherwise be illegal under federal, state, or local law.
Q: Rather than blocking a leased access channel as required by the Act may a cable operator
move the indecent programming to a specific hour when it is less likely to be seen by, say,
children?
A: No.  The changes made by the 1992 Act make no provision for so-called "safe harbors".
Q: Must a cable operator ban all material that it reasonably believes indecent?
A: No.  The Commission interprets the Act as only authorizing a cable operator to prohibit certain
programming, not requiring it to do so.
Q: Is a cable operator liable if a programmer fails to identify or misidentifies an obscene or
indecent program, thus resulting in carriage on the operator's system?
A: No.  The Commission has ruled that an operator will not be held liable for a failure to block
programming where the programmer has failed to provide the correct identification of its
programming.
Q: How may a cable operator verify that it has sought program identification?
A: A cable operator may require that a programmer certify that its programming is not indecent.
Those who fail to provide a requested certification may be barred from using leased access channels.
Where live programming is concerned, a programmer is permitted to certify that reasonable efforts
have been taken to ensure that its program is not obscene or, if provided on a non-blocked channel,
indecent.
Q: Have there been legal challenges to the access channel obscenity and indecency provisions?
A: Yes.  On November 23, 1993 a federal court of appeals ruled that the government may not
constitutionally authorize a cable operator to ban indecent material from access channels.  Alliance
for Community Media v. FCC, No. 93-1169 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 23, 1993).  Thus, cable operators are
not required to follow the indecency and obscenity requirements of the 1992 Act.  However, the
validity of these provisions is likely to addressed again by the courts.
Q: Until there is certainty regarding the obscenity and indecency  provisions of the 1992 Act,
how may a subscriber block indecent or obscene access channel programming?
A: The 1984 Cable Act and its implementing rules provide that subscribers are entitled to receive(at
a cost determined by the operator) a device ("lockbox") which allows the subscriber to restrict the
viewing of a particular cable service during periods determined by the subscriber.