Click on the banner to learn more...

Congress wants FCC to study a la carte

A side issue to the current indecency flap has involved the concept of a la carte channel selection as an option which multichannel video program distributors (MVPD) may offer to subscribers. A bipartisan group of House Energy and Commerce Committee members has asked the FCC to report on the viability of such a regimen.

The Republican side of the group includes Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), Fred Upton (R-MI), who is Chair of the relevant Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, and Nathan Deal (R-GA), who offered, then withdrew such an amendment at subcommittee markup of a bill to renew satellite bill SHVIA. The Democrats are full committee Ranking Member John Dingell (D-MI) and subcommittee Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-MA).

The a la carte concept has also been a pet project of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), particularly as it pertains to the cable side of the MVPD equation. At a recent hearing, McCain produced evidence that such options work just fine in Canada.

McCain has said that it makes no sense for subscribers to be forced to pay for channels they don't watch. The indecency tie-in is outrage over subscribers being forced to pay for channels which carry material which they feel compelled to keep away from their children.

Blocking technology, which is being promoted by the cable industry, also sparks outrage. People do not want to pay for something which they then have to take extra steps to block.

Some in Congress, along with the National Cable & Telecommunications Commission, have argued that a la carte options, if implemented, could actually raise prices. Increased in overhead along with decreases in advertising income could have a detrimental effect on overall pricing structures.

A la carte has also come under fire from minority groups. The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council has criticized it, for example, saying it would severely hamper efforts to start up new channels, limiting niche programmer access to MVPD channel lineups.

The Consumers Union, on the other hand, has been an enthusiastic backer of a la carte, and issued a release praising the study, due to be completed toward the end of November 2004. "The cable industry will no longer be able to hide behind Chicken Little predictions not that Congressional leaders from both parties have requested that the Federal Communications Commission conduct a rapid factual study of how allowing consumers to pick their own cable channels could work in the cable and satellite marketplace," said CU's Gene Kimmelman.