In the 1987 case City of New York et al. v. Federal Communications Commission et al., the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FCC, upholding its authority to preempt local regulations that restricted viewer access to television content from satellite dish antennas. The court found that such preemption was within Congress's intent when it passed legislation giving the FCC power over all interstate communication by wire and radio, including cable TV systems. The decision also noted that these restrictions were inconsistent with federal policies promoting competition and technological advancement in communications technology.

The dissenting opinion in the case of City of New York et al. v. Federal Communications Commission et al., 1987, argued that the FCC's preemption of local regulations regarding cable television was an overreach and not within its authority under the Communications Act. The dissenters believed that Congress did not intend for such a broad interpretation when it granted regulatory power to the FCC, especially considering that cable systems were largely intrastate services at their inception. They also pointed out that this decision could potentially disrupt existing state and local laws governing these systems without any clear federal policy to replace them with, leading to potential chaos in regulation and enforcement. Furthermore, they disagreed with majority’s view on First Amendment rights being infringed by local control over content selection; instead arguing there is no evidence suggesting municipalities would abuse their power or violate free speech rights.