ERIC Number: ED074782
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1973-Apr
Pages: 68
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Cable Television: Technical Considerations in Franchising Major Market Systems.
Pilnick, Carl
The 1972 Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) regulations on cable television were intended to assist the penetration of cable television into the large metropolitan regions of the United States. In these major market areas, the task for developing an appropriate franchise is complicated by the changing functional nature of the cable systems and by the dynamic state of cable technology. A cable system not only provides entertainment, but also has become a quasi-public communications system, and, lately, a transmission medium for a variety of new, nonbroadcast services. This variety of functions poses a franchising dilemma: How can a franchise strike a balance between a cable system designed for presently available services with minimum initial cost, and one that attempts to take into account the future growth of the system? This report suggests procedures that relate the technical design of the cable system to the structure of the franchise in a more explicit way than has been done in the past. It explores the areas of technological uncertainty and its relationship to the franchising structure. (Author/MC)
Descriptors: Cable Television, Communications, Community Planning, Construction Needs, Design Requirements, Electronic Equipment, Facility Planning, Guidelines, Marketing, Systems Approach, Video Equipment
The Rand Corporation, Publications Department, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, California 90406 ($3.00)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A