744 DENVER AREA ED. TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CONSORTIUM, INC. v. FCC
Opinion of Breyer, J.
the channels devoted to access). See Turner, 512 U. S., at 635-637.
Third, the problem Congress addressed here is remarkably similar to the problem addressed by the FCC in Pacifica, and the balance Congress struck is commensurate with the balance we approved there. In Pacifica this Court considered a governmental ban of a radio broadcast of "indecent" materials, defined in part, like the provisions before us, to include
" 'language that describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities and organs, at times of the day when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.' " 438 U. S., at 732 (quoting 56 F. C. C. 2d 94, 98 (1975)).
The Court found this ban constitutionally permissible primarily because "broadcasting is uniquely accessible to children" and children were likely listeners to the program there at issue—an afternoon radio broadcast. 438 U. S., at 749- 750. In addition, the Court wrote, "the broadcast media have established a uniquely pervasive presence in the lives of all Americans," id., at 748, "[p]atently offensive, indecent material . . . confronts the citizen, not only in public, but also in the privacy of the home," generally without sufficient prior warning to allow the recipient to avert his or her eyes or ears, ibid.; and "[a]dults who feel the need may purchase tapes and records or go to theaters and nightclubs" to hear similar performances, id., at 750, n. 28.
All these factors are present here. Cable television broadcasting, including access channel broadcasting, is as "accessible to children" as over-the-air broadcasting, if not more so. See Heeter, Greenberg, Baldwin, Paugh, Srigley, & Atkin, Parental Influences on Viewing Style, in Cable-viewing 140 (C. Heeter & B. Greenberg eds. 1988) (children spend more time watching television and view more channels
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