this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
284 points (99.7% liked)
Television
1960 readers
322 users here now
Welcome to Television
This community is for discussion of anything related to television or streaming.
Other Communities
- !casualconversation@piefed.social
- !movies@piefed.social
- !animation@piefed.social
- !trailers@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Television Communities
A community for discussion of anything related to Television via broadcast or streaming.
Rules:
- Be respectful and courteous to all members.
- Avoid offensive or discriminatory remarks.
- Avoid spamming or promoting unrelated products/services.
- Avoid personal attacks or engaging in heated arguments.
- Do not engage in any form of illegal activity or promote illegal content.
- Please mask any and all spoilers with spoiler tags.
List of Best Rated TV Series as voted by the Fediverse
founded 5 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The FCC regulates all 3, but they have a lot more control over OTA content because the electromagnetic spectrum doesn't have enough room for everyone who wants a TV station to get a channel. As a result, if you do get one, it comes with strings attached and you have to serve the public good as well as whatever else you want to put out there. In addition, a broadcast is out in the open, blasted out in all directions for anyone with a receiver to see and hear, so much like being outside means some of the things you can do in private are not allowed, TV networks can't broadcast some content that is otherwise legal. Those constraints offset some of the first amendment protections that would otherwise exist.
Cable and internet don't have these properties. They're constrained only by how many lines of cable you can deploy in an area, and physics isn't stopping anyone from running their own. And since it's not being blasted out into the air in all directions, it's closer to private communication. Without those justifications, the full protection of the first amendment still applies.