Preserving free television? Some empirical evidence on the efficacy of must-carry

In March 1997, the Supreme Court upheld the must-carry provisions of the 19 92 Cable Act on the grounds that they insured the survival of the "free" ov er-the-air television. This article empirically evaluates the efficacy of m ust-carry in preserving free television and shows that non-network broadcas t stations were able to increase viewer share after must-carry, lending sup port to the preservation rationale. The empirical analysis also indicates t hat this increase came exclusively from network stations, not cable program ming.