'FCC's A La Carte Model Would Devastate Religious Broadcasting'
Contact: Audrey Mullen, 703-548-1160
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition, a coalition of the nation's leading religious television broadcasters, today reiterated its opposition to the FCC using regulatory pressure to force cable companies to convert to a pay-per-channel or "a la carte" business model. Such a forced change would have a devastating effect on religious broadcasters and their mission to share the saving love of Christ to all nations.
Recent press reports indicate that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman intends to launch new regulations on the cable industry designed to force cable companies to radically alter their business model form tiered bundles of channels to a pay-per-channel, or "a la carte" business model. These regulations are scheduled to be the subject of an FCC meeting on November 27.
The news accounts indicate that Chairman Martin will claim that the "70/70" threshold has been met from a 1984-era statute meant to prevent cable from gaining too much market power. The rule kicks in when cable systems with 36 or more channels are available to 70% of U.S. households and achieve a 70% penetration rate of those households. Such a finding would grant the FCC the power to further regulate cable and force the a la carte business model.
Given the nature of today's subscription video marketplace, which includes Direct Broadcast Satellite, Verizon Communications' FiOS TV and AT&T's U-verse TV systems, and the entry of new fiber-optic Internet-based offerings and program streaming, relying on a 20-year-old program-diversity and rate regulation statute is out of place. Perhaps this is why some news reports state the FCC's real intention in asserting the "70/70" regulatory action is to pressure the cable industry to adopt a la carte regulations. Because the Faith & Family Broadcasting Coalition continues to believe an a la carte regime will limit and reduce the distribution of religious and faith-based inspirational programming, we must oppose this latest attempt to force it upon the marketplace by government fiat.
"Though its proponents may be well-intentioned, the fact is a la carte would threaten the very existence of religious broadcasting and the myriad of social and public service ministries it supports by reducing its distribution in the marketplace," according to Colby May, of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents the Faith & Family Broadcasting Coalition.
The GAO independently has concluded that the adoption of an a la carte model would likely raise prices for many cable and satellite subscribers and would surely mean the end of many of the smaller networks on cable today, from religious broadcasters to family-oriented networks.
"A per-channel charge would dramatically limit, if not kill, the availability of religious-based programming on cable" according to May, Director and Senior Counsel of the ACLJ's Washington, DC office. ACLJ filed official comments to the Federal Communications Commission opposing a la carte regulations when they were first proposed in 2005. "For 25 years the bundled-channel model of cable distribution has allowed religious programmers to be a dynamic and important part of the cable marketplace, providing the unique Gospel message of hope, joy, and love, which has touched millions of lives over that time. A government mandate to force abandonment of channel-bundling and substituting-in a la carte regime is misguided and threatens that historic distribution," May said.
