FCC chairman Kevin Martin increased his vocal fight for a la carte cable programming in a letter sent to several minority groups yesterday, arguing that it would actually assist poorer minority groups.
Martin cited a Nielsen study pointing out that the average cable subscriber was paying for 85 channels, while that consumer really is only watching 16 channels. (I wonder if the same applies for satellite radio?)
"Channel choice is increasingly significant to consumers as the number of channels included in expanded basic, and the corresponding price to consumers, has continued to skyrocket," Martin wrote. "Indeed, cable rates have more than doubled in the last ten years. Cable companies often point to the increased number of channels being offered as an explanation for the increase in prices. This explanation, however, ignores the fact that most of these channels are not actually being watched.
"While I believe all consumers would benefit from channels being sold in a more a la carte manner, minority consumers, especially those living in Spanish speaking homes, might benefit most of all," Martin said.
Consumers typically have to buy large, expensive blocks of channels to access Spanish-language channels, he said.
Martin's letter was sent to the Black Leadership Council, the Hispanic Federation, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and the League of Latin American Citizens, among others.
Earlier this month Kevin Martin said he was "pleased" with the proposed Sirius-XM a la carte pricing plan.
While Martin's support for a la carte has been well known for sometime, this clearly shows his feelings that it extends past the issue of simply "price," and reaches the overall issue of diversity in media. Sirius and XM's proposed a la carte pricing plan can act as a springboard for a la carte in the rest of the media industry in my opinion. Not only setting a precedent, but can even be shown as a working prototype to cable companies that the business model can actually work.
The FCC has an opportunity here. I hope they don't just let it slip through their fingers.
[Fox News]
Thanks Squeaky Wheel!
same is true for most services with large selections of content and i would think for both sirius and xmsr..ryan maybe you can take a poll
How old is this guy? He's like Doogie Howser of the FCC....
Bravo. I like how Comcast raised their rates in January and their 1st quarter profit rose over 80%.
I have to pay for MTV2 but somehow it was moved to a really high channel that I need a box for. I now need a box for HBO. Thanks now I have to pay another $5.00 a month for a box.
BTW, Brian Roberts the only reason why I and not to mention thousands of other subscribers have comcast is because we can't get Phillies, Flyers and Sixers anywhere else. And the only reason I subscribed to Comcast internet was because the only alternative was dial-up so of course that is why comast internet was/is the largest ISP.
Sorry Comca$t gets under my skin sometimes.
Another Thought hits the nail right on the head.
Why, when our cable company was AT&T, was I able to get the Platinum digital package for about $70 per month, including tax, but once Comcast took over, it IMMEDIATELY went up to around $140? Double! Then, they decide I need to pay another $5 for NFL network, but I get nine other channels with it that I never watch. I've considered downgrading to basic cable, but the channels my kid watches, Sprout, Noggin, and the On-demand content, are only available via the digital box.
Believe me, of the 200+ channels I have, I could drop about 170 of them with the a la carte offerings...I REALLY don't need my local FM stations on cable, for instance...Comcast could learn a lot from XM/Sirius.
Not to harp on with cable-horror-stories bit too much, but I'm a former Comcast subscriber myself. Honestly, I don't mind paying for something if the service is there. I got digital cable eons ago and absolutely loved the OnDemand content. But when I went to add on a second 'premium' channel, the rates skyrocketed. And for what seemingly seemed like no reason.
I since dropped Comcast and got DirecTV. Yes, I know, I listen to Satellite Radio, but didn't have Satellite TV.
DirecTV's rates were so much lower that I'm still sticking with Comcast Internet even with the extra $15/month hit (for not being a Comcast sub) because their speeds are so much faster than DSL.
The ONE downfall to DirecTV, in my opinion, is the lack of OnDemand. I can't believe they don't have it (yet?).
But I'm with Wes - Sprout, Noggin (and now DTV's "Baby First TV") is on all day anyway. After 8pm I actually get to watch regular TV. But give me the CHOICE to select the channels I want? Man, I'll have no problem throwing a ton of money in a company's direction. It's all about scalability, and customizations.
A LA Carte programming Will not reduce your expenses. it will reduce the number of channels you receive.
Lets play with basic cable... add one premium package and your up to 50-75 bucks a month. Go back to the basic at 24.95 per month, add back the digital box at 5 bucks a month for the 2 or 3 TV in your home (34.95) add in 25 channels you wanted HBO SHO CNN Dicrovery,TLC History Nationl geographic Speed, YES .... all for $1 each. your back to what you ware paying before A LA CARTE was started. Whats different? No more Deportivo, or the Korean chanel.
A LA Care is a waste of time and a dream that will never be what you want it to be.
The best part about Comcast is their advertising. They make customers think that they invented it. :)
Jeff if I was able to pay $1 a channel for the channels I wanted I can bet that it would be less than the $56 a month I am paying now. Of course for $56 a month I get all showtime and all HBO, encore movie channels and a bunch of other crap.
The reason I have all that for as little as I pay is because of a 2month outage that took 5 or 6 service calls to fix their problem even though they said it was a problem on my end. The reason it stopped working because of a power and service outage in my area but they said it was my fault. After they fixed all my charges I canceled internet:) When my year is up on all my free services I will probably just start to rent Weeds and Entourage instead of the pay channels, plus Blockbuster online is cheaper.
I meant to say that Comcast makes people think that they invented on demand.
I can't wait for the day we get A La Cart cable service....long overdue
Ryan said "DirecTV's rates were so much lower that I'm still sticking with Comcast Internet even with the extra $15/month hit (for not being a Comcast sub) because their speeds are so much faster than DSL."
Ryan, a good way around that extra $15 a month is to have Earthlink as your ISP. They lease the bandwidth from Comcast and typically charge $40 a month.
Martin cited a Nielsen study pointing out that the average cable subscriber was paying for 85 channels, while that consumer really is only watching 16 channels. (I wonder if the same applies for satellite radio?)
I mostly listen to five channels on XM (XMX, 80's, Top Tracks, Fred, BPM)
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