Cable television is arguably the dominant mass media technology in the U.S. today. Blue Skies traces its history in detail, depicting the important events and people that shaped its development, from the precursors of cable TV in the 1920s and '30s to the first community antenna systems in the 1950s, and from the creation of the national satellite-distributed cable networks in the 1970s to the current incarnation of "info-structure" that dominates our lives. Author Patrick Parsons also considers the ways that economics, public perception, public policy, entrepreneurial personalities, the social construction of the possibilities of cable, and simple chance all influenced the development of cable TV. Since the 1960s, one of the pervasive visions of "cable" has been of a ubiquitous, flexible, interactive communications system capable of providing news, information, entertainment, diverse local programming, and even social services. That set of utopian hopes became known as the "Blue Sky" vision of cable television, from which the book takes its title. Thoroughly documented and carefully researched, yet lively, occasionally humorous, and consistently insightful, Blue Skies is the genealogy of our media society.

The authors address claims that vertical ownership ties reduce programming diversity, restrict entry of competitors to cable, or have other socially undesirable effects

With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, congress opened the door for an industry, once heavily regulated, to take bold steps in the direction of competition. Through an examination of nine major Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, more than 15 years of legislative activity in Congress, and several other policy decisions undertaken during the 20th century, this study argues that the Telecommunications Act was part of a process of social learning in which federal regulators entered an enduring mindset of competition beginning in the late 1970s. Scholars interested in telecommunications issues and developmental theories of policy change should find this book engaging.