• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Cable Firms Plan to Offer Family-Friendly Packages

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 00:00 CST

By Richard J. Dalton Jr., Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Dec. 13--Cable companies serving the majority of U.S. subscribers plan to offer family-friendly packages, industry executives said yesterday, bowing to government pressure to give parents flexibility in screening programs.

Time Warner Cable, Comcast and several other cable networks accounting for 56 percent of subscribers will offer the option, said Paul Rodriguez, spokesman for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. The president and chief executive of the trade group, Kyle McSlarrow, discussed family programming yesterday with the Senate Commerce Committee during a meeting on decency in programming.

Two weeks ago, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin told the committee a family-friendly option would satisfy his push to allow customers to avoid objectionable programming. Martin also said a la carte programming -- letting consumers choose which shows they get -- would help parents screen channels, but that option is less attractive to the cable industry.

Mark Harrad, spokesman for Time Warner Cable, confirmed yesterday that in the next few weeks the company would announce a family-friendly package that could be available by March. He said he didn't have further details.

Earlier this month, John Alchin, Comcast co-chief financial officer, told a conference of Wall Street analysts that the company would offer a family package. Comcast spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick referred questions to the cable industry trade group.

Cablevision wasn't among the companies Rodriguez said were planning to offer family programming, but chairman Charles Dolan has said he supports allowing customers to screen programming by subscribing to individual channels. Jim Maiella, spokesman for the Bethpage-based company, had no comment.

Despite the change among cable companies, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association still opposes a family package.

"In a world in which everybody can be offended by something, what is it that you can put into a tier that can make everybody happy?" said Rodriguez. "We think parental controls are the best option because it means each individual household can set exactly what they want their household to get."

Even the Cartoon Network offers Adult Swim, programming aired after 11 p.m. geared toward adults, Rodriguez said.

Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, said a family programming package is a compromise that could allow families to avoid a surplus of channels, but won't completely prevent objectionable programming.

"The fact remains there is no substitute for vigilantly taking care of your children," Thompson said. "You don't let them get into the liquor cabinet. You don't let them take the car keys before they have a driver's license, and you watch what they look at on television and on the Internet."

-----

To see more of Newsday, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsday.com

Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

TWX, CMCSK,

Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

More News in this Category