Cable television has a unique regulatory history with five important policy reversals -- from unregulated to regulated or vice versa -- in the 30-year period since 1966.Although the industry currently is in a deregulated phase, its regulatory apparatus still remains in place and threatens future re-regulation, according to a UC Davis professor. Recent published research shows important economic costs in this regulatory uncertainty, increasing the riskiness to not just cable operators, but also to cable programmers and equipment suppliers, and even competing broadcast television stations."To compensate for this regulatory risk, investors demand higher returns and cable service prices are inflated," says Arthur Havenner, professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis. Recent research by Havenner and Zhiqiang Leng, a postgraduate student, finds that all cable-related stocks decline with regulation, and broadcaster stocks increase in value, casting serious doubt on the fundamental basis of cable regulation.