Hollywood: No Oscar For Martin's Wholesale A La Carte

HOLLYWOOD: NO OSCAR FOR MARTIN'S WHOLESALE A LA CARTE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin’s support for a plan to regulate providers of cable programming isn't causing Hollywood studios to shout hooray. In fact, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), is calling Martin’s plan “radical intrusion into the program market” that is predicated on the wrongheaded belief that the FCC knows better than the market “what is best for consumers.” Small cable operators that belong to the American Cable Association have urged Martin to take on the big programmers on a host of issues to level the competitive playing field. Meanwhile, an ad hoc group that includes AT&T and DirecTV is pressing Martin to ensure that its members can obtain access to a Philadelphia regional sports network owned by Comcast Corp. Martin’s most controversial proposal would, for example, force the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. ­ both MPAA members ­ to allow cable and satellite TV distributors to purchase channels on an individual basis, also called the wholesale a la carte plan. Although Martin might allow programmers to offer bundles, he would not favor the offering of bundles on a strict take-it-or-leave-it basis.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6533152.html?nid=4262