A coalition of the nation's religious television broadcasters, says it is opposed to the Federal Communications Commission using regulatory pressure to force cable companies to convert to a pay-per-channel or "a la carte" business model. Such a forced change would have a devastating effect on religious broadcasters, the broadcasters say.
Recent press reports indicate that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin intends to launch new regulations on the cable industry designed to force cable companies to alter its
business model form tiered bundles of channels to a pay-per-channel, or "a la carte" business model, the coalition, called the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition, says. These regulations are scheduled to be the subject of an FCC meeting on Nov. 27, the coalition says.
Appointed by President Bush, Martin heads the five-member FCC, which includes both Democrats and Republicans.
The news accounts indicate that Martin will claim that the "70/70" threshold has been met from a 1984-era statute meant to prevent cable from gaining too much market power, the coalition says. The rule kicks in when cable systems with 36 or more channels are available to 70% of U.S. households and achieve a 70 percent penetration rate of those households. Such a finding would grant the FCC the power to further regulate cable and force the a la carte business model, the coalition adds.
Given the nature of today's subscription video marketplace, which includes satellite, Verizon Communications' FiOS TV and AT&T's U-verse TV systems, and the entry of new fiber-optic Internet-based offerings and program streaming, relying on a 20-year-old program-diversity and rate regulation statute is out of place, the religious broadcasters contend.
The Faith & Family Broadcasting Coalition believes an a la carte pricing regime will limit and reduce the distribution of religious and faith-based inspirational programming.
"Though its proponents may be well-intentioned, the fact is a la carte would threaten the very existence of religious broadcasting and the myriad of social and public service ministries it supports by reducing its distribution in the marketplace," says Colby May, of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents the Faith & Family Broadcasting Coalition.
The Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, says that the adoption of an a la carte model would likely raise prices for many cable and satellite subscribers and would mean the end of many of the smaller networks on cable today, from religious broadcasters to family-oriented networks, the coalition says.
"A per-channel charge would dramatically limit, if not kill, the availability of religious-based programming on cable" says May, director and senior counsel of the ACLJ's Washington, office.
ACLJ filed official comments with the FCC opposing a la carte regulations when they were first proposed in 2005.
"For 25 years the bundled-channel model of cable distribution has allowed religious
programmers to be a dynamic and important part of the cable marketplace,
providing the unique Gospel message of hope, joy, and love, which has
touched millions of lives over that time. A government mandate to force
abandonment of channel-bundling and substituting-in a la carte regime is
misguided and threatens that historic distribution," May says.
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Labels: a la carte, broadcasters, cable TV, FCC, Kevin Martin, religion, religious, television
