Federal Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corporation

440 U.S. 689 · Decided April 2, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Federal Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corporation was decided on April 2, 1979 by a vote of 6–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Cable television regulation” in the Economic Activity area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Federal Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corporation et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-067, docket 1978-067-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Cable television regulation”

• United States v. Midwest Video Corp.
  406 U.S. 649Decided June 7, 19725–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• United States v. Southwestern Cable Co.
  392 U.S. 157Decided June 10, 19687–0John M. Harlan II
• Federal Communications Commission and United States v. Beach Communications, Inc.
  508 U.S. 307Decided June 1, 19939–0Clarence Thomas

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Communications Act of 1934

• Federal Communications Commission v. National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting
  436 U.S. 775Decided June 12, 19788–0Thurgood Marshall
• Federal Communications Commission v. WNCN Listeners Guild
  450 U.S. 582Decided March 24, 19817–2Byron R. White
• CBS, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission
  453 U.S. 367Decided July 1, 19816–3Warren E. Burger
• Capital Cities Cable, Inc. v. Crisp
  467 U.S. 691Decided June 18, 19849–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Louisiana Public Service Commission v. Federal Communications Commission
  476 U.S. 355Decided May 27, 19865–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• Fuller v. Alaska
  393 U.S. 80Decided October 28, 19687–2Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)

• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System v. First Lincolnwood Corp.
  439 U.S. 234Decided December 11, 19787–2Thurgood Marshall
• Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp.
  439 U.S. 299Decided December 18, 19789–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Pennzoil Producing Co.
  439 U.S. 508Decided January 16, 19797–0Byron R. White
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Daniel
  439 U.S. 551Decided January 16, 19798–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Director v. Rasmussen
  440 U.S. 29Decided February 21, 19798–0William H. Rehnquist
• Butner v. United States
  440 U.S. 48Decided February 21, 19799–0John Paul Stevens

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error