NEWSReport No.  DC 95-52      ACTION IN DOCKET CASE             April 5, 1995

                   COMMISSION UPHOLDS CABLE TELEVISION 
                          CHANNEL OCCUPANCY RULES
                                (MM 92-264)

     The Commission today voted to deny petitions for reconsideration of the cable
television channel occupancy limits.  These rules limit the number of cable channels that an
operator can devote to its own video programming in order to promote competition and
ensure programming diversity for consumers.  The Memorandum Opinion and Order adopted
today denies petitions for reconsideration and concludes, "at the present time, we believe that
our channel occupancy rules continue to represent an appropriate balance of the various
statutory objectives identified by Congress."

     Section 11(c)(B) of the 1992 Cable Act requires the Commission "to prescribe rules
and regulations establishing reasonable limits on the number of channels on a cable system
that can be occupied by a video programmer in which a cable operator has an attributable
interest."  In October of 1993, the Commission adopted its current channel occupancy rules
(8 FCC Rcd 8565 (1993)), which generally prohibit a cable operator from devoting more
than 40% of its activated channels to affiliated programming.  On December 15, 1993,
petitions for reconsideration of these rules were filed by:  (1) The Center for Media
Education/The Consumer Federation of America, and (2) Bell Atlantic Corporation.  The
Commission concludes that the current rules strike the proper balance between the risks and
benefits of vertical integration.

     In addition to reaffirming the overall 40% channel occupancy limit, related rules
reaffirmed by the Commission in this Memorandum Opinion and Order include:

     -the inclusion of over-the-air broadcast, PEG (public, educational and
     governmental), and leased access channels when calculating total channel
     capacity;

     -the exemption of local and regional networks from channel occupancy limits;

     -the application of channel occupancy limits only to a cable system's first 75
     channels;

                                  -over-
     -the grandfathering of all vertically integrated programming services being
     carried as of the effective date of the 1992 Cable Act (December 4, 1992); and

     -the continued application of the channel occupancy limits to cable systems
     facing competition.  The Commission said it would analyze this issue further
     as competition develops.

     Action by the Commission April 5, 1995, by Third Memorandum Opinion & Order
on Reconsideration (FCC 95-147).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness
and Chong.

                                   -FCC-

News Media contact: Morgan Broman (202) 416-0852.
Cable Services Bureau contacts: Rick Chessen, Kathy Franco, Nancy Stevenson (202) 416-
0800.