NRB joins chorus against a la carte

It seems like a good idea - - letting cable TV subscribers pick and choose channels and pay for just the ones selected. The thrust of the a la carte cable menu is against borderline indecent programming, with MTV and Comedy Central getting the most mentions as channels parents may wish to put out of reach of children. Many, including powerful Senate Commerce Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ) question why someone should pay for something they then have to go to the trouble of blocking.

Representatives of the cable industry often answer that, strange as it might sound, it is cheaper to transmit, then block, one objectional channel than to put a whole new complicated channel selection regime, with entirely new bookkeeping challenges, into place.

But an even louder groundswell of opposition has been coming from niche operators. Under the current system, basic cable offerings which play to minorities or specialized niches can piggyback on the channel card with the top mass appeal channels until they find an audience. They may disappear, but at least they had a chance.

Many feel they will have no chance under an a la carte system. Who's going to sign up and pay a fee for a new channel they've never heard of before?

Association National Religious Broadcasters is the latest to sound the a la carte alarm. It responded to an FCC inquiry on the topic, saying it fears "...the likelihood that it would cause irreparable damage to religious, independent, ethnic and niche program producers." It says this is particularly true of many of its own members, which often pay to be carried. NRB says, "This unique niche of programmers, who believe so strongly in the value of their message that they are willing to pay for carriage rights, would be devastated under a strict a la carte regime."