Buckeye Cablevision, Inc. v. FCC

• Decision Date: 30 June 1967
• Docket Number: No. 20274.,20274.
• Citation: 387 F.2d 220
• Parties: BUCKEYE CABLEVISION, INC., Appellant, v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, Appellee. D. H. Overmyer Telecasting Co., Permittee of UHF Television Station WDHO-TV, Storer Broadcasting Co., The Association of Maximum Service Telecasters, Inc., Intervenors.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

387 F.2d 220 (1967)

BUCKEYE CABLEVISION, INC., Appellant, v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, Appellee D. H. Overmyer Telecasting Co., Permittee of UHF Television Station WDHO-TV, Storer Broadcasting Co., The Association of Maximum Service Telecasters, Inc., Intervenors.

No. 20274.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued January 9, 1967.

Decided June 30, 1967.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mr. Robert A. Marmet, Washington, D. C., with whom Mr. Peter L. Koff, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellant. Mr. Edwin R. Schneider, Jr., Washington, D. C., also entered an appearance for appellant.

Mr. John H. Conlin, Associate Gen. Counsel, F. C. C., with whom Mr. Henry Geller, Gen. Counsel, and Mrs. Lenore G. Ehrig, Counsel, F. C. C., were on the brief, for appellee.

Mr. Victor E. Ferrall, Jr., Washington, D. C., with whom Messrs. Bernard Koteen and Alan Y. Naftalin, Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for intervenor Storer Broadcasting Co.

Messrs. Peter Shuebruk and Herbert M. Schulkind, Washington, D. C., were on the brief for intervenor D. H. Overmyer Telecasting Co.

Messrs. Ernest W. Jennes and John E. Vanderstar, Washington, D. C., were on the brief for intervenor Association of Maximum Service Telecasters, Inc.

Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, PRETTYMAN, Senior Circuit Judge, and DANAHER, Circuit Judge.

BAZELON, Chief Judge:

Buckeye Cablevision operates a community antenna television system (CATV) in Toledo, Ohio. Prior to May 27, 1966, it supplied paying subscribers with the signals of nine television stations located in Detroit, Lansing, Windsor, and Toledo. The signals are captured from the atmosphere with a master antenna and then retransmitted via cable to the subscribers' sets, which are specially wired for cable reception. On May 27, 1966, the Federal Communications Commission ordered Buckeye to cease and desist from carrying the signal of station WJIM-TV, Lansing, Michigan.¹ FCC regulations² prohibit CATV systems operating within one of the one hundred largest markets from extending the signals of distant stations beyond their "Grade B Contour"³ unless the Commission has previously determined in a hearing that such carriage will be "consistent with the public interest and specifically the establishment and healthy maintenance of television broadcast service in the area."⁴ Buckeye sought no such determination. Instead, it brought this review proceeding to challenge the Commission's distant-signal rules and the cease-and-desist order issued under them.

The distant-signal rules were first published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1966, as part of the Commission's Second Report and Order on CATV wherein it asserted jurisdiction over all CATV systems and adopted a comprehensive regulatory scheme.⁵ The distantsignal rules are applicable to all systems that began carrying a distant signal after February 15, 1966. Buckeye began carrying WJIM-TV on March 16, 1966 — the day the system went into operation — which is one month after the cutoff date and one day prior to the publication of the rules in the Federal Register. WJIM-TV is a "distant signal" and Toledo is one of the one hundred largest markets.

(1) A threshold question of first impression is whether the FCC has jurisdiction to regulate those CATV systems which employ no microwave transmission.⁶

The Communications Act, which directs the Commission to provide "a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide and world-wide wire and communication service * *,"⁷ applies to "all interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio and all interstate and foreign transmission of energy by radio, which originates and/or is received within the United States, and to all persons engaged within the United States in such communication or transmission of energy by radio * * *."⁸ To achieve the goals of the Act, the Commission is directed, inter alia, to establish "areas or zones to be served by any broadcast station,"⁹ to issue broadcast licenses to "provide a fair, efficient, and equitable distribution of radio service" to the states and communities of the United States,¹⁰ and to promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate its responsibilities.¹¹

The Commission determined in the Second Report and Order that CATV systems are engaged in "communications by wire" within the meaning of the Act.¹² It had already found that such systems enlarge the number of stations otherwise available to their subscribers, thereby splintering the market, and potentially decreasing audience size and, ultimately, the advertising revenues of local stations.¹³ It concluded that further unregulated growth of CATV represents a substantial economic threat to licensed television broadcast stations, and thus to the system of station allocations the Commission has established.

To meet this situation in the major population centers, the Commission promulgated the distant-signal rules, relying on its responsibility to insure "fair and equitable" station distribution by regulating service "areas and zones." The CA TV threat in the major markets is especially serious, because large scale CA TV operation in these markets might deter and possibly destroy the development of free, nonnetwork UHF stations which, for a variety of reasons, are likely to be economically weak even without CA TV competition.¹⁴ Although there is some evidence concerning adverse CATV impact in these markets, the extent of the danger is not yet clear enough for the application of fixed prohibitions. The rules reflect the Commission's decision to examine each situation on an ad hoc basis. We think it has chosen an eminently reasonable course. The growth of CATV is so rapid that, if it is allowed to proceed unabated, harm to the regulatory scheme can occur before the FCC can act.¹⁵ Further, subsequent regulation might disrupt large numbers of CATV systems with heavy capital investment and substantial public reliance on their services. The distant-signal rules afford the Commission an opportunity to determine on a case-by-case basis whether the public interest in the future of communications will be obstructed by each CATV operation.

Buckeye argues, however, that the Commission cannot rest jurisdiction on CATV's close relationship to regulated broadcast stations. It points out that the asserted basis for regulation is Subchapter III of the Communications Act which provides for the licensing of broadcasting,¹⁶ and that CATV systems are not broadcasters subject to licensing because they do not employ radio frequencies to distribute signals. Relying on Regents of the University System of Georgia v. Carroll, 338 U.S. 586, 70 S.Ct. 370, 94 L.Ed. 363 (1950), Buckeye asserts that the FCC's only permissible function under Subchapter III is licensing of broadcasters, and thus it may not control the signals Buckeye can deliver to its customers. We think this reliance is misplaced.

In Carroll, the Supreme Court held that the Commission's duty to effectuate the public interest requirements of Subchapter III "centered"¹⁷ around its licensing power, which does not encompass abridgment of contracts between licensees and third parties. But the Court's view of this limitation was based largely on the agency's lack of authority at that time to issue cease-and-desist orders, against licensees or anyone else, to prevent violations of the Act. Subsequently Congress conferred such authority,¹⁸ which correspondingly expanded the Commission's power to protect the regulatory scheme. We do not have to decide the degree to which Carroll may still be viable since we think that, in any event, it does not bar Commission authority to regulate a form of wire communication which enlarges the signal range of licensee stations to the potential detriment of the entire regulatory scheme.¹⁹

Our view is bolstered by the cases which have recognized implied agency authority to deal with aligned activities which may affect the regulatory system entrusted to the agency. "Congress in passing the Communications Act of 1934 could not * * * anticipate the variety and nature of methods of communication by wire or radio that would come into existence * * *. In such a situation, the expert agency entrusted with administration of a dynamic industry is entitled to latitude in coping with new developments in that industry."²⁰ It would "frustrate the purposes for which * * * the Act was brought into being if Congress had attempted an itemized catalogue of the specific manifestations of the general problems for the solution of which it was establishing a regulatory agency."²¹

We reject Buckeye's further contention that it engages only in intrastate commerce and is therefore exempt from FCC regulation. Although Buckeye and its customers are located in the Toledo area, its facilities are a link in the interstate transportation of television signals. It receives programs which originate outside the state and retransmits them by cable to its customers.²²

(2) The distant-signal rules are also challenged as an illegal restraint on First Amendment rights. It is true that CATV systems disseminate programs carrying a wide range of information. But we think the restraint imposed by the rules is no more than is reasonably required to effectuate the public interest requirements of the Act.²³ As we have pointed out, the rules are not a flat bar against distant-signal importation. The restraint may be only temporary if Buckeye can show that carrying WJIM-TV will not adversely affect broadcasting in Toledo.

Buckeye claims, however, that, as a practical matter, the heavy burden established by the Commission for such hearings makes relief only a remote possibility and thus that the restraint is absolute. Although the regulations are phrased in broad terms, we cannot say that on their face they impose such a heavy burden.²⁴ And, since Buckeye has not sought any hearing, we cannot know how the Commission will apply them. Buckeye's complaint is therefore...