Agenda - 06-29-2000-5b - Laserfiche WebLink

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20 • AT&T serves 18.96 million subscribers, or 23 percent of MVPD subscribers nationwide • Excluding its attributable ownership interest in Time Warner Entertainment (TWE), MediaOne serves 5 million subscribers, or 6 percent of MVPD subscribers nationwide • TWE serves 12.6 million subscribers, or 15.3 percent of MVPD subscribers nationwide Without divestitures, the merged AT&T MediaOne would serve 34.4 million subscribers or 41.8% of MVPD subscribers, which represents 51.3290 of nationwide cable subscribers. Enforcement of the Cable Horizontal Ownership Rules On May 19, 2000, the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia upheld the constitutionality of the statute underlying the FCC's rules on cable horizontal ownership. That court decision automatically lifted the FCC's voluntary stay and the agency immediately began enforcing its 30% horizontal ownership.limit. Section 613 and the FCC's Cable Horizontal Ownership Rules 1. 1992 Cable Act required the FCC to set a horizontal ownership limit for cable. 2. Daniels Cablevision challenged the constitutionality ofthe statute in District Court. 3. September 1993 -District Court agreed that the statute was unconstitutional. 4. FCC appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals far District of Columbia Circuit. 5. FCC adopted 30% as the ownership limit, but voluntarily stayed enforcement of the rule because of the District Court's ruling. 6. Tirne Warner challenged the 30% rule as unconstitutional in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 7. D.C. Circuit Court consolidated the challenge to the statute (Daniels) and the challenge to the rules (Time Warner). S. On October 8, 1999, the FCC revised its 30% ownership limit to account for all multichannel video program distributor (MVPD) subscribers, not just cable homes passed. Franchise Fee U-Tax Auditing & Cable Television Administration 101 Pocono Lane, Cary, North Carolina 27513-5316 Voice # 919.467.5392 Fax # 919.460.6868