Religion-based shows fear yet more remoteness in TV wilderness

[SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel, AUTHOR: Lisa Hoffman]
Since Congress opted not to include in recent digital television legislation "multicast, must-carry" provisions that would have made it mandatory for cable companies to carry the multiple digital signals of existing local broadcasters. And since the FCC has also rebuffed the broadcasters twice, the cable industry thinks the issue is dead. But apparently religious broadcasters haven't gotten the memo. "It's the top priority," Michele Combs, Director of Communication for the Christian Coalition, said recently of her organization's focus on the matter. "It is far from over. We are going to keep fighting for this," Combs said, adding that they already have secured backing from a host of senators and are launching a nationwide petition drive to rally support from the estimated 140 million Americans who say they watch or listen to religious broadcasts at least once a month. Religious broadcasters want cable companies to "multicast" all their digital channels which could be up to six for each current TV station. The cable industry essentially says it will air only one for each. Without a government mandate that they carry all six, broadcasters say they will shrink to a tiny, even easier-to-overlook presence on cable systems that offer as many as 1,000 channels to customers.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/religion/article/0,1406,KNS_315_4426824,00.html