ABSTRACT
AN estimated 18 million U.S. households (of some 79.1 million to- tal) were wired to a cable television service by mid-1981; industry analysts predict that nearly 46 million homes will be wired by 1990 (Jory, 1981). The rising number of cable television subscribers during the 1980s will be equaled by a dramatic increase in cable industry revenue, projected by one Wall Street investment firm as nearing $23 billion by the end of the decade (Koughan, 1981-82). Such promise of financial rewards lures an ever-increasing number of companies into the cable television busi- ness. In the period, 1980 to 1981, that number jumped from approximately 5000 to nearly 6000 (Jory, 1981). Though they vary in size and location, all cable television companies have one thing in common—doing business means securing a franchise from the local franchising authority (usually the city council) that governs the intended cable service area.
