First Annual Report to Congress Assessing the Status of Competition in the Market for Cable Television and Other Video Programming Services

摘要

The Commission is required under the Communications Act to report annually to Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming. On September 28, 1994, the Commission released the first such annual report. In the report, the Commission assessed: the definition of the market for the delivery of video programming, including cable television services; the performance of the cable industry since 1990; the status of existing competitors to franchised cable systems and other actual or potential competitors; market structure issues affecting competition (specifically, horizontal concentration, vertical integration and technical changes in the cable industry); and the extent of competition in, and the overall performance of, the market. The Commission also made several recommendations for promotion competition to cable systems.