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Turner Broadcasting v. FCC

Case Date: 01/12/1994
Docket No: none

Facts of the Case 

In 1992, Congress passed the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. Sections 4 and 5 of this Act required cable systems to allocate a percentage of their channels to local public broadcast stations, the must-carry rules. The rules limit the cannels available for exclusive control by cable programmers and increase competition for the remaining channels.

Question 

Are the must-carry rules content-based and thus a violation of the cable companies' First Amendment right to free speech?

Argument Turner Broadcasting v. FCC - Oral ArgumentFull Transcript Text  Download MP3Turner Broadcasting v. FCC - Opinion AnnouncementFull Transcript Text  Download MP3 Conclusion  Decision: 5 votes for Turner Broadcasting, 4 vote(s) against Legal provision: 47 U.S.C. 534

No. The Court held that the must-carry provisions were content neutral, thus not a violation of the First Amendment. The rules were not determined by the programming content, but by broadcast method. The rules promote fair competition in television programming. Congress recognized that the public television stations had an intrinsic value to the American public and were in economic peril of disappearing due to the cable television industry's monopoly. The rules do not force the cable companies to alter their message.