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over cable television. Rather, the only authority given <br />to counties is the power, pursuant to N. C. Gen. Stat. <br />S 153A -137, to issue cable television franchises. The <br />statute provides that franchises shall be granted "upon <br />reasonable terms" and shall be "[c]onsistent with the <br />rules and regulations of the Federal Communications <br />Commission." Thus, the County has not been given general <br />authority to legislate regulations governing cable tele- <br />vision, but has rather been given only the power to grant <br />franchises "upon reasonable terms." <br />The reason that counties are given the legal power to <br />grant cable franchises is that cable television systems <br />must make use of public rights of way for the cables <br />necessary to carry signals to their subscribers. The <br />franchise is the legal grant of permission for the private <br />cable company to make use of those public facilities. In <br />all other respects, cable television is a medium of <br />expression, protected from government regulation by the <br />First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In <br />other words, the County has no more power or authority to <br />regulate the local cable company than it has to regulate <br />the local newspaper. In a series of federal court decisions <br />over the last several years, including a decision affirmed <br />by the United States Supreme Court, the courts have held <br />that cable television is an activity protected by the <br />First Amendment and have invalidated government regulations <br />that were not related to the government's legitimate <br />- 2 <br />