Family Tier Sold in Limited Areas; Some Cable Firms Don’t Offer It
Family tiers -- touted by the industry as an answer to indecency concerns -- aren’t available in many parts of the U.S. because some companies haven’t completed rollouts of the product. Charter and some smaller companies said they don’t offer such packages of programming, which are devoid of racy fare and cost about $35 monthly.
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Time Warner Cable was the only company among 9 we surveyed selling the tier in all service territories. Virtually all of the firm’s customers can subscribe, said a spokesman. Comcast is a close 2nd. The company plans to finish introducing the tier within a few months, a spokeswoman said: “We're in most of the markets we've announced we'd be in, but we haven’t completed the rollout.”
Cable One and Charter officials said they don’t sell family tiers, despite the firms’ earlier statements they were considering it (CD Jan 30 p7, Jan 3 p2). Washington Post Co.’s Cable One doesn’t sell the product because customers don’t want it, a spokeswoman said: “Our customers are not exactly clamoring for one… If that were to change, then I think it’s something we would consider.”
Cox is in the midst of its rollout. Family tiers are available to customers in San Diego, Oklahoma City and northern Va., said a spokesman. Cox officials declined to say which cities will get the product next. “We do intend on launching the family package in additional markets, pending local technical and market readiness, contractual obligations and assessment of the original launch markets,” said a spokeswoman.
Charter offers what it calls a “family and information tier,” to digital subscribers, said spokeswoman Cathy Levendoski. She declined to say if Charter, the largest cable operator not selling family tiers, will do so. Cablevision doesn’t sell family tiers, either, said a spokeswoman. An official at Mediacom, which has said it’s open to the tier, said “there’s no news” on it. Insight plans to offer a family tier in at least some of its systems by the end of this summer, said a spokeswoman.
FCC Comr. Copps questioned whether family tiers are meant to be successful when he was asked about our survey at a news briefing. Critics have said the offerings are too limited, lacking sports channels such as ESPN, to attract many subscribers. There are questions on “whether it is designed to succeed or designed to fail,” Copps told us: “Consumers want more choice… Tiers are one option. A la carte has been mentioned by others.” Cable One would consider selling a tier if other companies encountered success, the spokeswoman said: “If another operator has a huge success with the family tier, then that would make it a little more appealing.”