Charter, Cox, DirecTV Say They Don’t Support A La Carte
Charter, Cox and DirecTV, bucking proposals by rivals, don’t support a la carte video offerings. Company officials cite reasons from technical difficulties to fear of govt. mandates. That’s despite calls from RCN and EchoStar executives for programmers to allow pay TV firms to sell channels individually, to offer customers more choice. EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen visited the FCC last week, urging Chmn. Martin to impose an a la carte condition on the $17.6 billion Adelphia cable transaction (CD Jan 25 p7). Speaking on the Hill last week, he also called for a la carte.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
A la carte might drive up programming costs - boosting customer bills that many people already carp about. “By and large, most of the economists who looked at it… have concluded that changing the business model will increase the cost of entertainment to the American consumer,” said Alex Netchvolodoff, vp-public policy for Cox Enterprises. “If that’s the case, and there is a fair amount of credibility behind the notion, I don’t see how it’s in our interests or the consumer interests to go to that model,” he said, adding no final decision has been made.
Other cable executives cited technical hurdles to offering a la carte, which Martin has said he supports. “The industry isn’t ready today technologically,” said Charter’s David Andersen. Cable technicians would have to install so-called traps to block programming that customers getting analog cable could choose not to buy, he said. “A la carte would depend upon the ability to leave analog programming behind,” said Netchvolodoff. “That of course depends in turn on the extent to which people have digital boxes.” Fewer than 50% of Cox customers get digital service, he said.
DirecTV also said it doesn’t favor a la carte, which Martin and some lobbying groups have said might curb the amount of indecent programming kids are exposed to. “With the combination of parental controls and multiple programming options, we believe customers have choice and the ability to block programming they don’t want their family to watch,” said Susan Eid, vp-govt. affairs at DirecTV. The DBS provider “is opposed to government mandated a la carte,” said Eid. A media activist said studies have indicated a la carte would be a raw deal for the public. Martin’s long-awaited report supporting such a programming regime and reversing the conclusions of a previous FCC study hasn’t been made public. “There is certainly not a clear picture,” said Gloria Tristani, former FCC comr. who works for the United Church of Christ. “We have too many concerns and have too many unanswered questions to take a position on it at this point.”