FCC and a la Carte

The FCC has suddenly decided that a la carte channels are not cost prohibitive. Of course the six month study ordered by the Congress in 2004 found just the opposite to be true: "Most consumers would end up paying more for cable and satellite television if they were allowed to pick only the channels they wanted to watch instead of being forced to buy large packages of channels, a Federal Communications Commission report concluded." 11/19/04

What gives? Well it seem like the new FCC chairman, Kevin Martin, maybe listening to other influencers. "Several parent and consumer advocacy groups, including the Parents Television Council and the Consumers Union, have urged Congress to consider legislation that would require a la carte options for television. These groups believe that allowing consumers to subscribe to individual channels instead of purchasing entire packages would lower costs and provide parents with more control over what programs their children watch."

Could that really be? Well today we see that Kevin has followed up with this statement: "I think the industry needs to do more to address parents' concerns... You can always turn the television off and block the channels you don't want. But why should you have to?"