(RNS) Advocacy groups say plans of cable television companies to offer family-friendly programming packages are flawed and designed to thwart consumers from getting what they really want: a la carte sales, in which subscribers pick and choose their channels.
The marketing model traditionally used by cable companies and the two leading satellite TV services requires consumers to subscribe to channels in various pre-packaged “tiers.” “Right now, to get the good channels, you have to buy the raunchy channels,” complained Jim Metrock, head of the Birmingham, Ala.-based child advocacy organization Obligation Inc.
Portions of the cable industry — under pressure from the federal government — have come forward with a new willingness to package family-friendly channels into a special programming tier to help parents keep at bay programming with sex, violence and rough language.
Proponents of a la carte multi-channel pay TV programming — encompassing both cable and satellite TV — insist that talk of family tiers is merely an effort to derail their drive to force providers to sell programming by the individual channel. “They are throwing a bone out there to keep the government from doing anything,” said Metrock. “In every other aspect of our lives, we buy what we need,” he added.
It’s not that simple, counters the cable TV industry. “Several economic analyses have all concluded that a la carte would likely lead to higher prices, less choice and less diversity in programming,” said Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable Television Association.
Of late the commercial television industry has come under increased scrutiny for programming some have labeled indecent. Broadcasters, whose television stations and networks use the public airwaves for their over-the-air telecasts, have felt the greatest pressure from existing federal regulations that allow the government to levy large fines or other measures for content infractions.
But the cable industry heretofore has escaped such content controls because it does not deliver its programming via the public airwaves.
The Parents Television Council says only a la carte channel availability and pricing can be a fair and effective solution.
