H
HagiaSophia
Guest
Most everyone I know complains that their cable access forces them to buy channels in which they have no interest whether it be for content or personal choice. Here is a very interesting article which describes how the present system works, and what we as viewers can do about it, in order to change the system so that we can have “ala carte viewing”.
A few excerpts:
"Beleaguered parents are often told that if they don’t like a TV program to “just change the channel.” To add insult to injury, these same consumers often have to pay for the trash they are trying to avoid, but a consumer-driven system could reverse television’s slide toward the sewer…
“Cable and satellite dish systems force customers to purchase channels that they don’t watch and find offensive. And the excesses of these systems, which are exempt from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) content rules, drive regular broadcasting channels to air ever-more-coarse programming. The solution may be “cable choice,” in which consumers order only the channels they want. But it will take an act of Congress to force companies to create such a consumer-friendly system…”
“But variety aside, the average cable customer watches only 12-15 channels. Since not even basic cable television, now found in the majority of U.S. homes, is held to the FCC’s broadcast indecency laws, cable has been leading the downward spiral of trash television.”
That “competition” with cable is the main reason operators of broadcast networks have justified pushing the indecency envelope, according to Jeffrey McCall, a communications professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
“If the six large media conglomerates were allowed more control over the airwaves, community standards and local accountability would be swept away,” said Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council. “The networks have simply ignored the public’s standards of decency and the same holds true for the FCC.”
A la carte pricing would give the consumer leverage against channels that push the envelope of decency and routinely violate community standards. For example, FX, a cable channel that now forces itself into every cable-subscribing home through its placement on the basic cable tier, would either have to tame shows like Nip/Tuck that push the boundaries of common decency or become a niche channel through loss of subscribers.
"The time to act is now, while lawmakers are reviewing the issues of media consolidation, cable pricing and increasing levels of television sex and violence. The first thing citizens can do is call, write or e-mail members of the House and Senate Commerce committees that oversee these issues. You should also contact House and Senate leadership and your own senators and representatives. With enough public outcry, changes can be made for the better.
The message should be simple: Tell your representatives that it is time for market forces to control the cable industry. Media conglomerates assume their viewers are happy with increasing levels of indecency and vulgarity in their entertainment choices. But how can they know for certain, if all customers are forced to pay for the programming?..
catholicexchange.com/vm/PFarticle.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=24947&sec_id=47748
A few excerpts:
"Beleaguered parents are often told that if they don’t like a TV program to “just change the channel.” To add insult to injury, these same consumers often have to pay for the trash they are trying to avoid, but a consumer-driven system could reverse television’s slide toward the sewer…
“Cable and satellite dish systems force customers to purchase channels that they don’t watch and find offensive. And the excesses of these systems, which are exempt from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) content rules, drive regular broadcasting channels to air ever-more-coarse programming. The solution may be “cable choice,” in which consumers order only the channels they want. But it will take an act of Congress to force companies to create such a consumer-friendly system…”
“But variety aside, the average cable customer watches only 12-15 channels. Since not even basic cable television, now found in the majority of U.S. homes, is held to the FCC’s broadcast indecency laws, cable has been leading the downward spiral of trash television.”
That “competition” with cable is the main reason operators of broadcast networks have justified pushing the indecency envelope, according to Jeffrey McCall, a communications professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
“If the six large media conglomerates were allowed more control over the airwaves, community standards and local accountability would be swept away,” said Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council. “The networks have simply ignored the public’s standards of decency and the same holds true for the FCC.”
A la carte pricing would give the consumer leverage against channels that push the envelope of decency and routinely violate community standards. For example, FX, a cable channel that now forces itself into every cable-subscribing home through its placement on the basic cable tier, would either have to tame shows like Nip/Tuck that push the boundaries of common decency or become a niche channel through loss of subscribers.
"The time to act is now, while lawmakers are reviewing the issues of media consolidation, cable pricing and increasing levels of television sex and violence. The first thing citizens can do is call, write or e-mail members of the House and Senate Commerce committees that oversee these issues. You should also contact House and Senate leadership and your own senators and representatives. With enough public outcry, changes can be made for the better.
The message should be simple: Tell your representatives that it is time for market forces to control the cable industry. Media conglomerates assume their viewers are happy with increasing levels of indecency and vulgarity in their entertainment choices. But how can they know for certain, if all customers are forced to pay for the programming?..
catholicexchange.com/vm/PFarticle.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=24947&sec_id=47748
