Cite as: 520 U. S. 180 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
vertising] revenues,' " id., ¶ 591 (App. 1543), and that viewer-ship was in turn heavily dependent on cable carriage, see id.,
¶¶ 589-596 (App. 1542-1544).
Considerable evidence, consisting of statements compiled from dozens of broadcasters who testified before Congress and the FCC, confirmed that broadcast stations had fallen into bankruptcy, see id., ¶¶ 659, 661, 669, 671-672, 676, 681 (App. 1576, 1578, 1581-1582, 1584, 1587), curtailed their broadcast operations, see id., ¶¶ 589, 692, 695, 697, 703-704 (App. 1542, 1591-1600), and suffered serious reductions in operating revenues as a result of adverse carriage decisions by cable systems, see id., ¶¶ 618-620, 622-623 (App. 1553- 1555). The record also reflected substantial evidence that stations without cable carriage encountered severe difficul-ties obtaining financing for operations, reflecting the financial markets' judgment that the prospects are poor for broadcasters unable to secure carriage. See, e. g., id., ¶¶ 302, 304, 581, 643-658 (App. 1382-1383, 1538-1539, 1564-1576); see also Declaration of David Schutz ¶¶ 6, 15-16, 18, 43 (App. 640-641, 644-646, 654); Noll Declaration ¶¶ 36-42 (App. 1024-1029); Haring Declaration ¶¶ 21-26 (App. 1099-1102); Second Meek Declaration ¶ 11 (App. 1858); Declaration of Jeffrey Rohlfs ¶ 6 (App. 1157-1158). Evidence before Congress suggested the potential adverse impact of losing carriage was increasing as the growth of clustering gave MSO's centralized control over more local markets. See JSCR ¶¶ 150- 153 (App. 1311-1313). Congress thus had ample basis to conclude that attaining cable carriage would be of increasing importance to ensuring a station's viability. We hold Congress could conclude from the substantial body of evidence before it that "absent legislative action, the free local off-air broadcast system is endangered." Senate Report, at 42.
The evidence assembled on remand confirms the reasonableness of the congressional judgment. Documents produced on remand reflect that internal cable industry studies
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