Washington – Senators expressed skepticism Thursday about the family-friendly packages of channels that cable and satellite operators are crafting in response to government concerns about indecent and racy shows on television.
At Thursday’s hearing, EchoStar Communications Corp., owner of the Dish Network satellite company, announced a family-friendly tier that is to launch Feb. 1 with 40 channels for $19.99.
Customers could purchase local broadcast channels for another $5, said Charlie Ergen, chairman and chief executive of the Douglas County-based company.
Rival satellite-TV company DirecTV Inc. announced a family tier Wednesday.
The packages don’t include sports channels such as ESPN, prompting lawmakers to suggest they were designed to fail.
“It almost seems like an invitation to an unmarketable package,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., told cable and satellite executives at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on TV indecency.
Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia also had doubts.
“To have a family tier and not have sports on it, in our family, would not be proper family programming,” said Allen, the son of former NFL coach George Allen. “You’re going to have to come up with a family tier plus sports.”
Neither senator suggested that the government should force the companies to redesign their packages. Allen said cable and satellite companies should respond voluntarily to the demands of consumers.
David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corp. – the nation’s largest cable company – said it decided not to include ESPN because of what he termed “some really disturbing non-family-appropriate programming.”
He cited two dramas that aired on ESPN – “Playmakers” and “Tilt.” Neither show currently runs on the sports network.
Comcast has not set a date for its family-package rollout in Denver.
The industry has come under pressure recently from lawmakers and the Federal Communications Commission to do more to shield children from raunchy programming. Following a direct appeal from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin late last year, the three biggest cable companies – Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications Inc. – announced plans to offer family-oriented channel packages.
In urging the industry to help parents navigate the hundreds of channels on cable and satellite TV, Martin encouraged executives to explore the family- friendly packages. Another option he suggested, which many in the industry oppose, is an “a la carte” system in which customers could pay for only those channels they want to watch.
Most cable executives say that would drive up costs and lead to the demise of channels that can’t attract enough advertising dollars or viewers.
In a reversal of the FCC’s previous position, Martin is expected to release a report soon showing that a la carte pricing may help lower prices.
