Public policy and community-oriented uses of cable television

Little is known about the role of cable television systems as an element of the communications infrastructure of cities. This research looks at local cable systems in terms of households served, total channels and community-oriented channels per system, interactive capacity, and local origination programming. A considerable gap is found between the vision of the “wired city” and the current performance of cable systems on these measures. The findings suggest that there is serious question whether cable will ever provide an excess of broadcast capacity and interactive programming and services to a majority of residents in most communities unless such provision becomes a clear goal of public policy.