The U.S. Supreme Court case Federal Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corporation et al., 1978, revolved around the question of whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had overstepped its authority by requiring cable television systems to provide facilities and equipment for public access channels. The FCC's rules mandated that cable operators reserve a portion of their channels for local educational, governmental and public use - essentially turning them into broadcasters as well as carriers of signals. Midwest Video Corporation challenged these rules arguing they exceeded the FCC's regulatory powers under the Communications Act of 1934. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court sided with Midwest Video Corp., ruling that while Congress had given FCC broad powers to regulate communications in general interest, it did not extend to transforming cable companies into broadcasters without specific legislative mandate. The court held that such an interpretation would be inconsistent with both statutory objectives and technological realities; hence striking down those provisions which required cable systems to provide origination capabilities.

In the dissenting opinion for FCC v. Midwest Video Corporation, Justice Powell argued that the majority's decision to uphold the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules requiring cable systems to provide public access channels was an overreach of authority. He contended that these rules were not within the scope of powers granted by Congress and therefore violated administrative law principles. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 2(a) of The Communications Act as a broad grant of regulatory power over all aspects of television transmission including cable systems. Instead, he believed it should be interpreted more narrowly in line with its original intent - regulating broadcast services rather than non-broadcast services like cable TV. Additionally, Powell expressed concern about potential First Amendment issues arising from government-mandated content on private communication mediums.