Cable Operators Say They'll Offer Family Choice Tier

“I really hope you will take mandates off the table,” McSlarrow told Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R- Alaska), who has made it clear he believes cable needs to do more than educate parents about using parental controls. FCC Chmn. Martin also has expressed concern about cable’s role in patrolling content, and some say he’s hinging approval of the Comcast-Time Warner purchase of Adelphia deal on securing a commitment to family tier. “I am pleased that some cable companies may respond to consumer demand and begin to voluntarily offer family tiers,” Martin said in a statement. “Offering a family- friendly package has always been one of the options I supported. I look forward to hearing more about the details of their plans.”

McSlarrow described the purchase of a family choice tier as a “fork in the road.” Subscribers would get basic channels required by law, which include the major broadcast networks and public access channels. They could choose expanded basic -- the 70-80 channel lineup that most operators offer -- or the family tier, which would be digital. The digital component prompted questions about pricing, but McSlarrow said that hadn’t been discussed. However, he said the family choice tier should be the most “affordable you can get.” A Senate Democrat source said there has been discussion about giving away set-top boxes to reduce the cost to customers. “Cost is a factor,” Stevens said, adding that “we're under substantial pressure to move one of these bills. I don’t expect some of these organizations to give up.”

“This is a move that customers and regulators should love,” said analyst Jeff Kagan. It’s the kind of move cable should have made a long time ago, assuming it’s done correctly, he said. “Most customers would choose the kind of bundles that make sense for them as long as it would save them money. This is a good start,” Kagan said. Other analysts viewed the move as helpful for Comcast’s and Time Warner’s efforts to get FCC approval of their purchase of Adelphia cable assets. “We… believe the cable move is initially helpful as the industry seeks to fend off further government legislation and/or regulation of its content. We note the announcement was welcomed by two key senators as well as the FCC chairman,” according to an analysis by Stifel Nicolau.

Stevens convened the follow-up decency forum to air “solutions” to the decency issue, which pits First Amendment protections against those speaking in the name of family interests. “We're trying to keep the ball rolling,” Stevens said. Former MPAA Pres. Jack Valenti said he’s making progress with efforts to show a “closer rapport” between TV and movie ratings so parents understand the relationship between the 2 systems. Valenti said he plans a comprehensive education campaign to promote the use of the V-chip and will report on progress Jan. 19 when the Senate Commerce Committee next meets on decency issues.

“Governments cannot and must not strip away from people their right to choose what they want to see or think or watch or hear,” Valenti said: “These rights ought to be treated with great veneration.” Stevens agreed it ought to be possible to come up with systems that are similar for TV and movies. “You're demonstrating once again that you're the icon of entertainment, and it sounds like we could have a busy couple of weeks before Christmas,” he said, referring to meetings planned to work on the ratings system: “Some of us don’t like the legislation that’s been introduced but I think it would have overwhelming approval unless some action was taken by industry.”

The family tier and ratings system could help forestall indecency legislation, Stevens said. There are 4 bills on the table, but “as far as I'm concerned, none of them have enough support for us to move as long as this process is going on,” he told reporters. But the House, which passed a bill raising maximum fines on broadcasters for indecency violations to $500,000 from $32,000, is pressuring the Senate to adopt its own bill. “Now that cable has stepped up to the plate, the Senate should follow suit and move the House-passed bipartisan broadcast indecency bill which raises the fines for indecent material broadcast over the public’s airwaves,” House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) said in a statement. House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) praised cable’s efforts: “A family-friendly tier will provide parents and their children with some shelter from the deluge of questionable content on cable TV.”

But the Parents TV Council called cable’s efforts a “red herring” that avoids facing the “real marketplace of fed-up consumers,” said PTC Pres. Brent Bozell. “Family tiers are not the same as providing consumers with cable choice, the ability to take and pay for only what they want,” he said: “We've been down this road with the fox guarding the henhouse before. The ratings system is a failure due to the industry’s self-applied ratings.