FCC May Endorse Cable à la Carte, In a Policy Shift

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz Amy.Schatz@wsj.com and Joe Flint joe.flint@wsj.com]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is expected to announce today at a Senate forum on indecency that the FCC will soon reissue its review of cable industry "à la carte" pricing with a wholly different conclusion. While the original report concluded that consumers would pay more for individual channels, the new one concludes they could pay less. "This report will conclude that à la carte could be in the best interest of consumers," said an FCC official familiar with the revised report's contents. The report also finds that "themed tiers" of channels could be "economically feasible," the official said. This is of concern for the cable industry, partly because it opens a new front in the government's efforts to impose indecency standards on cable and satellite providers. Until now, the cable industry has resisted suggestions from Mr. Martin and some lawmakers to voluntarily offer à la carte choices or set up a "family-friendly tier" of channels suitable for children. By suggesting that consumers won't necessarily pay more for individual channels, the report calls into question the cable industry's revenue model. While the FCC can't force the cable industry to change its business model, its voice will add considerable weight to the debate and could embolden lawmakers eager to give consumers, particularly parents, more control over which television programming enters their homes.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113323293561108783.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
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* FCC's Martin at Senate Indecency Forum
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Headlining today's decency forum is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, an advocate of family tiers and a la carte options for cable subscribers.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6287301.html?display=Breaking+News
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* Martin To Attend Forum On 'Decency'
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-OTIS1133214675761.html

* For more info on the forum and a link to the webcast see:
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1702