Mccain working on a la carte cable tv packages.

[powderman]

McCain working on bill to allow for 'a la carte' cable TV packages    Brendan Sasso
05/08/13


Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is working on legislation that would pressure cable and satellite providers to allow their customers to pick and choose the channels they pay for, his office confirmed on Wednesday.

Consumers have long complained about the rising costs of cable TV packages and having to pay for dozens or even hundreds of channels just to gain access to the few that they watch.

But McCain's legislation, which he is expected to introduce in the coming days, will likely face furious opposition from both the TV broadcasters and cable providers.

McCain, the former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, pushed a similar "a la carte" cable TV bill in 2006, but the legislation found little traction at the time.

Under the current system, cable and satellite providers, such as Comcast and DirecTV, must negotiate with media companies for the ability to carry their channels.

In addition to pressuring cable providers to offer channels a la carte, McCain's new bill would bar TV networks from bundling their broadcast stations with cable channels they own during negotiations with the cable companies, according to industry sources. So for example, the Disney Company, which owns both ABC and ESPN, could not force a cable provider to pay for ESPN in order to carry ABC.

The industry officials said the bill would also end the sports blackout rule, which prohibits cable companies from carrying a sports event if the game is blacked out on local broadcast television stations.

Dropping the rule would have the most effect on the National Football League, which requires broadcasters to black out games if the local team does not sell out the stadium. The rule is meant to encourage fans to buy tickets to see the game live.

The bill also includes a provision that would boost Web TV service Aereo, according to the industry sources. Aereo allows customers to stream broadcast TV on their computer or mobile device, but the TV networks are suing the company, claiming that it is stealing their copyrighted content.

Several broadcasting officials have said recently that if they do not win in court, they would consider taking their programming off the air to prevent Aereo from stealing it.

The bill would pull the broadcast licenses of companies that switch high-value programming from over-the-air television to cable channels, according to the sources.

The National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association declined to comment, but the groups are expected to oppose the legislation. Both industries have argued that the government should not micromanage how they offer their products to customers and that bundling can promote diverse offerings.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the current chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which would have jurisdiction over the bill, did not respond to a request to comment. His committee plans to hold a hearing next week on the state of the video marketplace. McCain no longer serves on the panel.




Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-va...#ixzz2SkZ5r0Dm 

[kennyd]

quote:


 Both industries have argued that the government should not micromanage how they offer their products to customers and that bundling can promote diverse offerings.


You betcha, that is why I can find Pretty woman, Sweet Home Alabama, and some of the others on 2 or 3 stations at a time, and they will repeat.  But any of the lesser known movies are seldom or never seen, and if they are, they are shown once only, so you better get the DVR going and be forewarned.  Most of the network TV is junk.  Survivor, Dancing, Diving, and all.  We never watch any of it.  The best we have found is Waltons reruns on a couple stations, we have Andy Griffith all memorized.  The news is a grinning bunch of idiots flirting with each other, seldom any real in depth news.  If you want a real world scene, BBC, France, Italy, or Al Jazeera do a better reporting job.  And then you better take it with a grain of salt.


If we could really choose and pay for only the few channels we actually watch it would be good.  But I doubt it.  If the wife didn't need the TV, I am not sure there would even be any service in this house.

[Oldshooter]

It would improve the quality of TV if you could pick 25 to 50 channels to watch and not pay for the rest of the trash available. the trash would go away and there would be competition by the rest to be picked. No MTV would be in my selection, no msnbc, no CNN,no news, no sitcoms unless you call duck dynasty a sitcom, Etc ETC.
 

[BBF]

Something I could support myself even up here.