Circa Pict. & Prod. Co. Intnl Inc. (fka CPPD)

[dingocub]

Horrible News for LOGO... IMO..

Would turn logo basically into pay channel... HA HA!!

FCC Open to à la Carte Cable

The U.S. cable and satellite industries gird for a brawl with federal regulators.
November 30, 2005

Responding to calls from conservative groups for tighter standards for decency in broadcasting, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has raised the option of allowing pay television viewers to pick their own channels, setting up a potentially costly brawl with the cable and satellite industries.

Chairman Kevin Martin offered the option in a speech to the Senate Commerce Committee on Telecommunications and Transportation, reversing a well-established FCC position that favored bundling channels as the most cost-effective option for consumers.



The so-called à la carte programming option is a pay-per-channel plan in which consumers would pick the channels in their cable package. That approach could replace the basic and expanded bundles now offered by cable and satellite TV operators.



The cable industry has battled any suggestion that the industry go to the à la carte model, which they say would raise prices, reduce choice, and violate the U.S. Constitution.

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À la carte is generally seen as the most extreme of all the options available to the government and the industry for fighting indecency or extreme violence in cable programming. Yet Mr. Martin highlighted à la carte as one of the first options during his speech on Tuesday.



“Cable and satellite operators could offer an exclusively family-friendly programming package as an alternative to the ‘expanded basic’ tier on cable or the initial tier on [satellite TV],” he said. “This alternative would enable parents to enjoy the increased options and high-quality programming available through cable and satellite without having to purchase programming unsuitable for children.”



The cable industry responded almost immediately, promising a challenge to any à la carte imposition on constitutional grounds.



"We can’t comment on any new FCC à la carte report until it’s released… but previous and recent analyses were consistent in their findings that government pay-per-channel regulation would be likely to hurt consumers by increasing prices, decreasing choice, and reducing diversity in programming, and it would do so in a way that violates the First Amendment,” said Kyle McSlarrow, chief executive of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.



Mr. McSlarrow, who is growing in visibility, believes the cable industry is protected by free speech rights, but he also believes the imposition of à la carte unbundling of channels would make individual channels more expensive and kill specialized programming.



“We have 390 channels with programming for every taste. They survive because of bundling. If you take that away, you will violate the First Amendment and hurt the very customers you are planning to help,” he told RedHerring.com before Mr. Martin's speech (see Cable TV Faces Decency Rules).



Conservative Pressure

But there is a lot of pressure on the FCC coming from conservative consumer rights groups and the conservative wing of the Republican Party to move drastically to rein in cable and satellite TV operators. Cable and satellite are the only segments of the entertainment media beamed to the American home that are not subject to decency regulations and fines.



“Parents could then be permitted to ‘opt out’ of cable programming, requesting not to receive certain cable channels and having their package price reduced accordingly,” said Mr. Martin. “Another option would be to allow consumers to choose a specific number of channels from a menu of available programming for a fixed price—e.g., 10 channels for $20, 20 channels for $30, etc.”



But the cable industry sees any attempt by the FCC to determine how it should bundle its channels as an intrusion on its business model that should be outside the reach of the commission.



“Such a massive government intrusion into how a broadband service like video is marketed, offered, and priced would undoubtedly chill the needed innovation and investment necessary to build out capital-intensive networks that rely on the marketplace to determine the most economically effective way to provide a return on investment,” said Mr. McSlarrow.


Mr. McSlarrow said an à la carte system would serve to kill channels that address subjects that don’t currently have grassroots popularity among consumers like the Golf Channel. But these channels gain popularity as consumers are exposed to them. Switching to an à la carte system would produce fewer viewing options.