Cable Television Rate Regulations

Document 2025-13107 is a Final Rule published by the Federal Communications Commission in the Federal Register on July 14, 2025, with an effective date of August 13, 2025. In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminates unnecessary cable rate regulation forms and rules; deregulates cable equipment not used exclusively to receive the basic cable service tier; deregulates small cable systems serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers that are owned by small cable companies serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers; declines to extend rate regulation to commercial establishments; and modifies rules to account for the sunset of CPST regulation and clarifies their application. This action is necessary because many of the FCC's rules governing cable rate regulation have been rendered obsolete or unworkable due to the sunset of cable programming service tier (CPST) rate regulation and the passage of time. In addition, in this document, the FCC closes several moot proceedings and dockets which are either resolved by this document or have become obsolete or irrelevant due to regulatory updates, technology advances, marketplace changes, or have been addressed in other FCC orders. The actions taken in this document by the FCC will have the effect of streamlining the cable television rate regulations, unleashing prosperity through deregulation, and reducing the administrative burdens on the cable industry, franchising authorities, and the FCC, while continuing to fulfill the statutory obligation to subscribers to ensure reasonable rates for cable service and equipment. View the original at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/14/2025-13107/cable-television-rate-regulations.

No. Document 2025-13107 is not classified as economically significant under Executive Order 12866. Economically significant rules require OIRA review and are estimated to have impacts of $100 million or more per year.