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COMMISSION TO HEAR PRESENTATION ON THE STATUS
OF COMPETITION IN THE MULTICHANNEL VIDEO INDUSTRY
DECEMBER 18, 1997
In announcing this presentation, Commission Chairman William E. Kennard said "This will be the first in a series of en banc presentations to the five FCC Commissioners on various communications policy issues the Commission plans to hold as part of upcoming open agenda meetings." The purpose of this en banc series, said Chairman Kennard, "is to educate and inform the Commissioners, FCC staff, and the public about differing perspectives on current issues in telecommunications policy." Future en banc presentations will concern the status of competition in local telephony and other markets.
The first en banc presentation will include three presenters: Decker Anstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Cable Television Association; Gene Kimmelman, Co-Director, Washington Office, Consumers Union (accompanied by Dr. Mark Cooper, Research Director, Consumer Federation of America); and Matthew Oristano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, People's Choice TV Co., and Chairman, Government Relations Committee, Wireless Cable Association International.
The Commission will hear their views on the status of competition and consumer choice in the marketplace for multichannel video programming, including, among possible issues, cable rate regulation, program access regulation, and what, if anything, the presenters think the Commission and the Congress should do to encourage more competition in the multichannel video industry.
Copies of prepared remarks will be available at the en banc presentation and will also be placed on the Commission's Web site at www.fcc.gov.cable .
For more information, please contact Steve Klitzman at (202) 418-1913. Members of the news media should contact Morgan Broman at (202) 418-2358 or David Fiske at (202) 418-0500.