John McCain Introduces Cable A La Carte Legislation To Stop Bundling

Deadline ^ | 5/9/13 | DOMINIC PATTEN

[Teflonic]

John McCain wants to unbundle cable and to stop broadcasters like CBS and Fox from moving their stations to pay TV. The Arizona senator right now on the Senate floor is introducing The TV Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 (read it here). The legislation is intended to “allow the consumer, the television viewer who subscribes to cable, to have à la carte capability. In other words, not required to buy a whole bunch of channels that that consumer may not want wish to subscribe to,” McCain said moments ago. The former GOP Presidential candidate also went after broadcasters like CBS and Fox who have said that they could move to cable if they lose in the courts against Barry Diller’s Aereo streaming service. “We’ll also establish consequences if broadcasters choose to downgrade their over-the-air service,” McCain told the Senate. His legislation would also eliminate the sports blackout rule “in events that are held in publicly financed stadiums.”

The proposal is expected to meet heavy resistance among the cable companies. ”Only Dish and Cablevision have been for a la carte and smaller bundles because we think it’s consumer-friendly”, Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen said during his company’s conference call today. “Having said that, there are five big groups that probably have enough clout in Congress to stop that legislation today. He added that “the marketplace is going to determine” if the price is too high. “There’s an awful lot of people who don’t consume (200 channels)”, he said, “and most of us would like to look for creative solutions”.

“This is unfair and wrong — especially when you consider how the regulatory deck is stacked in favor of industry and against the American consumer”, he said. “You can only do that when you have a monopoly”, he added.

[oh8eleven]

As to your assertion that we’d still be living with an ATT monopoly? I don’t think so. If something else comes along that’s cheaper and a better
Well, no $hit Sherlock, that's my point. What private company came along to compete with and break up AT&T? No one. Free market my butt.

[ConservativeMan55]

Well if no one else came along then people must have been happy.

Otherwise something WOULD have come along.

The reason Foxnews is still in business is because people want to watch it.

The reason Glenn Beck is making millions each year.. and his network is about to start competing with CNN and Foxnews.. because people wanted something else.

[oh8eleven]

They’re not going to stop selling that way. And that’s why cable companies sell to you that way.
Cable companies can refuse to buy that way, they just chose the easy way out and don't.
If they explained to the subscriber why they won't be adding another 25 unwanted channels and raising rates, I think the vast majority would support them.

[oh8eleven]

Well if no one else came along then people must have been happy.
They had NO choice - it was be happy or "no phone for you."
I guarantee, if a second cable provider moved into my area offering just a 10% discount, 50% would switch. If they offered a la carte service, 90% would switch.

[ConservativeMan55]

Yes they DID have a choice!

No phone! lol!

If people were so unhappy about the prices that they
started dropping their phones then I bet ATT would
have changed pretty quick. Don’t you think??

[oh8eleven]

If people were so unhappy about the prices ...
How/why would they be unhappy - nothing to compare pricing with.

[ConservativeMan55]

You don’t have to have anything to compare it to, to be upset about prices.

That particular price may not fit in your particular budget.

No one is forcing you to buy their service.

[Gene Eric]

So it’s lack of competition. Surely the govt isn’t the solution in that regard.

[oh8eleven]

No one is forcing you to buy their service.
Yeah, but who could be without a phone? You may not remember, or may even be too young to have known about, party lines.
You shared a phone line with a total stranger and you paid a lower monthly price.

[piasa]

If our government really wanted to serve the people's interest there would not be any taxes on interfamily communication such as phone services.

I don't see any Republicans proposing something as simple as that, instead they want to play games with regulations on nonessential luxuries like the boob tube.

[ConservativeMan55]

I know quite a few people today who live without phone, cable TV.. and gasp! Internet! why? Because they can’t afford it.

But nobody is coming to their door saying... you HAVE to fit this into your budget.

It’s an option. And since it’s an option that gives ALL the power to the customer.

[oh8eleven]

So it’s lack of competition. Surely the govt isn’t the solution in that regard.
Why not? Why can't the gov't void the agreements the cable companies have signed to not sell their product in each other's areas?
BTW ... beer companies used to have the same agreements many moons ago.

[oh8eleven]

that gives ALL the power to the customer.
Yeah, power to pull the plug and watch local stations. Some "power."
And do you think the cable company gives a $hit if you bail on them? They just raise the rates on the remaining customers.
This is the exact same scenario Kodak went through with their film sales beginning in the 1980s. As they lost market share to Fuji Film, their only response ever was to just raise their prices.

[ConservativeMan55]

You or I have no more right to tell the Cable Companies what to charge.. than I do to come into your house and tell you what to eat for dinner each night.

It’s NONE of our business what a PRIVATE company does.

You know why, because their service is an OPTION.

[oh8eleven]

have a nice day

[ConservativeMan55]

You too.

[Gene Eric]

I’d rather have the govt fees and taxes removed from my bills.

Collusion to undermine market competition prolly involved support in the Senate, but I don’t have any evidence of that at my immediate disposal. But my point is the govt likely facilitated the thing you want it to fix.

Netflix is turning to original content. There’s an alternative.

I agree with your preference for competitive choice, but I don’t agree with the regulations mentioned in the article.

[ConservativeMan55]

You might want to ask Glenn Beck about that.

Because that’s exactly what he did. Don’t like something.. build your own network.