The Parents Television Council (PTC) has once again publicly praised XM and Sirius satellite radio for the proposed A La Carte pricing as well as their "family-friendly" packages offered as a benefit of the two companies merging.
"This announcement by XM and Sirius constitutes the best set of parental controls we’ve ever seen to not only prevent children’s access to adult-themed programming, but to enable the marketplace to decide what it wishes to purchase and pay for," said PTC President Tim Winter.
"If the merger is approved and satellite radio gives its customers real choice in programming, it will be a groundbreaking moment for the future of subscription-based entertainment," Mr. Winter continued. "There is no question that greater control of graphic content, combined with giving consumers the ability to have some control over packages and pricing is in the public interest and certainly in the interest of parents and families."
These are some hefty words, considering that the PTC is arguably the single biggest influence on indecency regulation in America. The PTC regularly launches massive campaigns to file complaints with the FCC over content they deem to be 'indecent' broadcasts.
"We call upon the cable and satellite television industries to follow the lead of XM and Sirius and give real choices to their own customers who are deeply offended by many of the channels families are forced to buy just to get access to the quality family programming available on cable," said Mr. Winter.
This isn't the first time the PTC has come out in favor of the merger thanks to the "block and rebate" programs. But the repeated strong show of support must have some weight with regulators. I'm not sure which group is more annoying to the folks over at the FCC: the NAB or the PTC?
From a personal standpoint, and as a parent myself, the best 'regulation' can also be called 'parenting.' (Crazy thought right?) But regardless, I really do agree with this final statement by Mr. Winter.
"Only a meaningful solution like this one will allow the marketplace to decide for itself what it wants and what it is willing to pay for."
And that's the truth.
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NO!!!!! Anyone who supports the merger is must now admit that they share an opinion with the disgusting group that is the Parents Television Council. I've never supported the merger, because I knew that it would destroy less popular content. A la carte subscription services FUCKING SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It KILLS the smaller, less popular content, like The System! And because of some ridiculous anti-free-expression people, we are going to lose our uncensored content. Watch it happen.
Parents Television Council: Let me point out how fucking idiotic you are.
-Your name lacks an apostrophe. It should be "Parents' Television Coucil".
-You are the Parents TELEVSION Council. What the fuck do you have to do with RADIO? Maybe the fact that you're really the Conservative Right Censorship Lobby?
-A la carte does not provide "choice". It destroys choice. Before, you had all the channels to choose from. And beyond that, XM will remove channels that are less popular because no one is describing to them, and it will become an FM-like cesspool of boring, non-offensive (who ever sets that standard), only "popular content". Then what do you have to choose from?
-Parents Television Council's position is that consumers "pay for channels'. That is absolutely false! You pay for the SERVICE! Do they not realize that nearly all the content is produced by XM itself? Any money they pay on their bill is spread across all of XM's expenses, including O&A's paycheck. You should pay for the service, and BLOCK what you don't want. This is not about "paying only for 'family' content", it's about destroying the content the conservative right doesn't want mature adults to be able to hear.
Please, if you ever supported this merger, please reconsider. You are not helping your favorite satellite company (sorry I wrote "XM" all over this article, it's what I'm used to writing about and it's shorter), you're destroying it. Unless you like bland, 'popular" music. (Then why do you have satellyite radio)
Who's disgusting, Kevin M? Quit throwing up all over the page. And, it would be a good idea for you to do your research. Have you ever actually been to the PTC website....www.parentstv.org....