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New Push on Way on Cable Channels

Posted on: Friday, 2 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By Mike Drummond, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Dec. 2--Armed with a preliminary federal finding that so-called a la carte pricing for cable channels is possible -- and potentially better for consumers -- foes of the industry are spoiling again for a national fight.

Family values groups have long sought a la carte pricing as a means to combat what they see as too much indecency on TV.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said this week that setting prices per channel may be better for consumers than bundled channel packages, the industry norm. Cable companies say a la carte offerings would cost consumers more money and decrease the variety of programming.

The FCC findings -- to be released in a formal report in the coming weeks -- reverse previous FCC research. Moreover, the FCC's about-face comes amid rising cable rates in many parts of the country, and while on-air indecency remains a hot-button issue.

Locally, Time Warner Cable will raise rates by 2 percent effective in February for most customers in the Charlotte area. The rate hike is to offset a new state tax, the company said. The company did not raise rates this year.

Most cable companies say allowing consumers to select their own channels would drive up the cost per channel, particularly niche programming such as The Golf Channel.

"Can you buy just the sports section of the Observer?" said Sue Breckenridge, spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable in Charlotte.

She declined to discuss whether the company has considered a per-channel pricing system.

Likewise, Sammy Roberson, director of public and government affairs for Cox Communications in Greenville, said some a la carte channels could cost as much as $8 each.

Time Warner Cable's standard cable package costs about $50 and delivers about 60 channels, or about 83 cents a channel.

The exception so far is Cablevision Systems Corp., big in the New York area. It came out this week in favor of letting consumers purchase cable channels individually.

The cable industry and others say ability to pick channels is no guarantee that potentially offensive material won't seep into living rooms.

On Sunday during the Panthers game, a 20-second promotion for a 10 p.m. Fox Charlotte report about teen sex generated dozens of complaints. The teaser included a reference to teens getting on their knees and featured an obscured image of a woman's lips approaching an ice pop.

Parents Television Council, a family advocacy group that ranks network shows according to a color-coded decency chart on its Web site, has lobbied for legislation to force cable companies to offer at least some form of a la carte pricing.

The PTC, Consumers Union and others failed to get Congress to pass such a bill last year.

Dan Isett, director of corporate and government affairs for Los Angeles-based PTC, said it's willing to take the fight to Capitol Hill again. "But there's no reason why the industry can't do this voluntarily," he said. "There's no need for a legislative fix."

He and others who express concern about indecency are irked about "subsidizing" channels they find offensive.

Isett referenced this year's Pamela Anderson roast on Comedy Central. He watched it as part of his job, he said, and found it crude.

He said a better system would offer consumers a block of channels at a certain price. That price would drop according to how many channels a consumer decides to opt out of.

However, even cable companies that philosophically align with Isett said a la carte pricing would upend the industry.

Comporium, which provides cable service to Rock Hill and other parts of South Carolina, doesn't offer the Playboy Channel and the like, said Glenn McFadden, executive vice president of operations.

The company also offers four ways to block unwanted channels -- by specific program, channel, time or subject matter.

However, it won't offer a la carte channels because it would be too hard to reinvent an advertising model and get sponsors to pay for fragmented programming.

"It would throw everything in a complete tailspin," he said.

BLOCKING PROGRAMS:

--Set-top boxes. They offer the greatest flexibility for setting parental controls. Some companies offer them free; others lease them for about $4 or $5 a month.

--The V-Chip. The V-Chip is in every television set 13 inches or larger manufactured after January 2000 and some sets sold after July 1999. Consult your owners manual or www.tvguidelines.org.

--Filters. Also known as traps, some cable companies will install a filter on the cable equipment outside your home at no charge to block certain channels.

--Remote control. There's always the option of changing the channel.

Sources: Mediacom, Observer

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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