How 'A La Carte' TV Legislation Died in the Senate

Sens Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD) had planned a committee vote on their "Local Choice" proposal, but they were forced to pull the legislation due to opposition from other committee members.

"It probably would've been a tough vote, only because a lot of our guys had not had a lot of time to digest and process it," Sen Thune, the top Republican on the committee, admitted. The proposal wouldn't have affected cable channels like ESPN, but it would have required broadcast networks like Fox, NBC, and CBS to set individual prices for their channels. Consumers could then choose which ones they wanted to pay for in an "a la carte" pricing system instead of the channels being part of larger bundles. Although Sen Thune admitted "this is probably not the time" for his proposal, he argued that the debate over the past few weeks on the issue "sets the stage for a fuller and broader discussion next year."