Cite as: 512 U. S. 622 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
the free discussion that the First Amendment seeks to foster." Ibid.
Tornillo and Pacific Gas & Electric do not control this case for the following reasons. First, unlike the access rules struck down in those cases, the must-carry rules are content neutral in application. They are not activated by any particular message spoken by cable operators and thus exact no content-based penalty. Cf. Riley v. National Federation of Blind of N. C., Inc., 487 U. S., at 795 (solicitation of funds triggers requirement to express government-favored message). Likewise, they do not grant access to broadcasters on the ground that the content of broadcast programming will counterbalance the messages of cable operators. Instead, they confer benefits upon all full-power, local broadcasters, whatever the content of their programming. Cf. Pacific Gas & Electric, supra, at 14 (access "awarded only to those who disagree with appellant's views and who are hostile to appellant's interests").
Second, appellants do not suggest, nor do we think it the case, that must-carry will force cable operators to alter their own messages to respond to the broadcast programming they are required to carry. See Brenner, Cable Television and the Freedom of Expression, 1988 Duke L. J., at 379 ("Other than adding new ideas—offensive, insightful or tedious—the [speaker granted access to cable] does not influence an operator's agenda"). Given cable's long history of serving as a conduit for broadcast signals, there appears little risk that cable viewers would assume that the broadcast stations carried on a cable system convey ideas or messages endorsed by the cable operator. Indeed, broadcasters are required by federal regulation to identify themselves at least once every hour, 47 CFR § 73.1201 (1993), and it is a common practice for broadcasters to disclaim any identity of viewpoint between the management and the speakers who use the broadcast facility. Cf. PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U. S. 74, 87 (1980) (noting that the views ex-
655
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