The Media Bureau is asking cable operators to weigh in on a
Freedom of Information Act request to access the last 14 years' worth of price
data submitted to the FCC for its annual cable price survey.
The cable companies have routinely sought confidentiality
for that info, but the FCC points out that those requests are still pending, so
cable operators who believe the data should be withheld from public disclosure
because it is proprietary and commercially sensitive will have to make that
case anew.
The request is for covers pricing from 1998 to 2012.
The FCC notice came in response to a FOIA request from Ali
Yurukoglu, an assistant professor of economics at Stanford currently
researching "the effects of bundling and vertical mergers in the cable and
satellite television industry."
