Cable-Programming Executives to Martin: A La Carte Proposal Is Anti-Consumer

Top cable-programming executives told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin he should focus on the DTV transition rather than an a la carte proposal in which cable channels above a certain price -- say $0.75-$1 per subscriber, per month -- would have to be offered separately, or a la carte. In a letter to Chairman Martin Tuesday, ESPN president George Bodenheimer, MTV Networks chairman Judy McGrath, Univision president Jeff Gaspin, Disney Media Networks co-chairman Anne Sweeney, Turner Broadcasting System chairman Phil Kent and Fox Network Group president Tony Vinciquerra said Martin's suggestion, floated at a cable convention last week, would be devastating to consumers and beyond the FCC's authority anyway. They added that the result would be popular networks "stripped out of expanded basic, forcing consumers to pay an extra charge to watch them."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6551792.html?rssid=193

Cable Programmers Respond To Martin’s A La Carte Ceiling Plan
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6551804.html?nid=4262

Programmers' A La Carte Letter
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6551805.html?nid=4262

TV Executives Warn FCC Against Mandating Cable a la Carte
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/tv_executives_warn_fcc_against.php