The cable industry welcomed the ruling. A spokesman for the National Cable Television Association said cable companies consider antitrust laws, not FCC rules, to be the appropriate method for dealing with anti-competitive behavior. At the center of yesterday's case are two rules the FCC adopted to limit consolidation in the cable industry. The court's decision could have broader implications. Fox, CBS and NBC have a case pending in the same court, challenging the FCC's limit on one company owning stations that together reach more than 35 percent of the nation's homes.
Every major network is close to that limit.
What this ruling says is that the government can't just invent these types of restrictions with no good reason. Cheryl Leanza, deputy director of the Media Access Project, said yesterday that the FCC has an obligation to balance the free-speech rights of big companies against concerns that too much media consolidation could limit public access to information from diverse sources. It had faced a May 19 deadline imposed by the FCC to spin off its 25 percent stake in Time Warner Entertainment because it exceeded the ownership limit. MediaOne Group Inc. Until the FCC responds to yesterday's ruling, the appeals court imposed a cap limiting cable companies from serving more than 60 percent of the nation's cable subscribers. The court's decision may have strengthened its negotiating position by taking away the deadline to settle.