Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, didn’t hold back in a year-end media briefing earlier today. His ire was directed toward the FCC and his timing surely was not coincidental. The Commission is set to meet tomorrow and is expected to release the ’05 cable price survey and to take action on new rules that could further ease franchising requirements for AT&T, Verizon and other telcos entering the video business.

Addressing the price survey, McSlarrow said, “It is unclear to me why a report that was clearly finished at the beginning of this year was kept under wraps or why it has been subject to selective leaks of information.” He further derided the report as “almost entirely useless as a foundation for any policy decision,” noting that the data in it are almost two years old. He further declared it “severely limited” in its focus only on analog expanded basic cable, which ignores the reality that most cable customers subscribe to digital and that satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network have significant video market share, yet are excluded from the report. Of the satellite competitors, McSlarrow noted that they have aggressively increased their prices, as has Verizon. As for the so-called Section 621 proceedings the FCC is expected to address tomorrow, McSlarrow said, “Based on what we know, I think it’s a proposal that has to be dramatically pared back. The case has been made by the telcos that they’re being held back from getting franchises. There’s no evidence in the record at all to support that.”

Early in his remarks, McSlarrow exasperatedly declared that the current agenda of the FCC “represents one of the most sweeping regulatory examples of government micromanagement.” Asked later by a reporter if FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has a grudge against the cable industry, he replied, “You’d have to ask him. All I can say is I just think there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually our industry is doing. It’s almost like they are moving through a time warp.” How misunderstood? How far into a time warp? Stay tuned for news out of the FCC meeting tomorrow.