Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commn. case brief

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commn. case brief summary

512 U.S. 622 (1994)

CASE SYNOPSIS

This was an appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granting summary judgment to appellees with respect to appellants' action seeking declaration that the must-carry provision of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, 47 U.S.C.S. § 534, violated U.S. Constitutional amendment I.

CASE FACTS
Appellants filed consolidated actions against appellees seeking to have the must-carry provisions of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (Cable Act), codified at 47 U.S.C.S. § 534, declared unconstitutional as violative of U.S. Constitutional amendment I. A three-judge district court panel granted summary judgment to appellees, and appellants appealed.

DISCUSSION

• The Supreme Court vacated the summary judgment order and remanded, holding that: 
• (a) the Cable Act's must-carry rules were content-neutral in application, as they were not activated by any particular message spoken by cable operators and thus exacted no content-based penalty; 
• (b) the government must show that the economic health of local broadcasting was in genuine jeopardy and in need of the protections afforded by the must-carry; and 
• (c) since a genuine issue of material fact - i.e., the economic necessity of the must-carry provision - was in doubt, summary judgment was inappropriate.

CONCLUSION

The summary judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded; although the must-carry provision was a content-neutral restriction, it still had to be supported by a factual showing of economic necessity.