AfterDawn: News

Religious group says FCC may kill their broadcasting

In a recent investigation put on by the Federal Communications Commission, they've found that an old statute set in 1984 which regulated the business model of cable companies in the US has just about reached fruition. This statute claimed that should cable companies which provide more than 36 channels is available to 70% of American households and reach a 70% penetration rate, the FCC would re-evaluate the business model to keep competition among cable companies fair. A new meeting which will take place on November 27th will discuss forcing cable companies to change to a more "a la carte" business model in which subscribers are offered a pay-per-channel lineup as opposed to bundled packages.

This proposal doesn't sit well with religious group, The Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition. The group claims that this type of business model will "have a devastating effect on religious broadcasters and their mission to share the saving love of Christ to all nations."



"Though its proponents may be well-intentioned, the fact is a la carte would threaten the very existence of religious broadcasting and the myriad of social and public service ministries it supports by reducing its distribution in the marketplace," according to Colby May, of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents the Faith & Family Broadcasting Coalition.

May has filed official comments with the FCC over their proposed new business model. May stated "A per-channel charge would dramatically limit, if not kill, the availability of religious-based programming on cable. For 25 years the bundled-channel model of cable distribution has allowed religious programmers to be a dynamic and important part of the cable marketplace, providing the unique Gospel message of hope, joy, and love, which has touched millions of lives over that time. A government mandate to force abandonment of channel-bundling and substituting-in a la carte regime is misguided and threatens that historic distribution."

Source:
PR News Wire

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 20 Nov 2007 11:03

• Previous article

• Universities not required to be copyright police in COAA

• Next article

• BBC to add hi-def channel but not for Freeview

• 12 comments

• duckNrun

  I guess some of these tele-evangelists will have to sell a Bentley or two when their profits...ahem... donations begin to decrease.
  
  Seriously, I am all for spreading the Gospel and whatnot but I just don't think that those channels should have any more protection than other channels.
  
  In an a la carte system there will definately be those channels that, due to actual demand, will either see the consumer paying more for (than channels with greater saturation) or the producers of said channels will have to reduce their costs to the cable companies.
  
  In comparision, The Bible Broadcast Network has been on the radio for decades and is provided free of charge to whoever wants to listen in.

  20.11.2007 16:27 #1

• redux79

  This new idea of paying for each channel can go either way, either you pay a reasonable amount for the channels you actually want or you would pay more for fewer channels.
  
  I have the dish network 180 pack and i've managed to count at least a half dozen religious, hunting, and home shopping channels. I never watch any of them; in fact I think I only watch 40 to 50 channels on a regular basis most of which are movie channels (I can't stand commercials).
  
  Anyways back on topic these religious channels are ridiculous, how are you supposed to get closer to god by staring at your tv? Anyone who really cares about religion goes to church and owns their favorite version of the bible or other religious doctrine. These religious channels/televangelists are con-artists, they make loads of money and pay no taxes, kind of like some of the larger Indian casinos. The sooner they're off the air the better.

  20.11.2007 16:37 #2

• tin23uk

  i personnally dont believe in god or religion and think its rediculouse that these religious groups take to tv channels to try and sell god to people, if god was so powerfull why would he need a bunch of babbling idiots to go on tv and advertise him. but thats kinda getting away from the point.
  
  even the very religious people i know dont watch these stoopid channels and anyone flicking through channels that stumbles accross god tv is gonna change immediatly because not only are they full of crap they are pittifully edited, picture quality sucks and the cameramen tend to film like they have been sneeking in the holy wine.
  
  if anyone really gave a toss about what they were preaching they wouldnt be worried about being killed off by pay per channel because people would be willing to pay for the channel
  
  maybe they should give up now and donate some of the cash they pump into this garbage into something worthy instead like starving children or abused women. i know they do sometimes try and raise money for things other than their particular church but like i said above nobody watches it anyway so why not take out an add in playboy for donations to worthy causes instead.

  20.11.2007 20:12 #3

• tin23uk

  Originally posted by redux79: I have the dish network 180 pack and i've managed to count at least a half dozen religious, hunting, and home shopping channels. I never watch any of them; in fact I think I only watch 40 to 50 channels on a regular basis most of which are movie channels (I can't stand commercials).
  oh and in answer to this your right nobody would pay for the channels they never watch, religious channels being among them, the religious groups are crying about it because as with every other aspect of live they believe religion should be forced upon us for the moral good and not through our own personal choice. they seam to have forgotten about the separation of state and church and for that matter personal choice.
  
  and just for the record before some nut job starts screaming that i was raised by devil worshipers i was in fact christened in england at about 2 months old into a family that believed in god and went to church, unlike the rest of my family i eventually learned to think for myself and question the world around me, i soon realised how crazy the whole idea of religion really was.

  20.11.2007 20:26 #4

• Buik

  Three cheers for ala carte.
  
  I am not a Spanish speaker, but yet I am forced to subsidize those channels.
  
  I do not watch these "Televangelists", but I am forced to subsidize those channels.
  
  Reasons I have not switched to satellite are signal continuity and the internet discount from being a cable subscriber.
  
  End bundling and let me choose what I want to pay for.

  20.11.2007 20:33 #5

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by duckNrun: I guess some of these tele-evangelists will have to sell a Bentley or two when their profits...ahem... donations begin to decrease.
  
  Seriously, I am all for spreading the Gospel and whatnot but I just don't think that those channels should have any more protection than other channels.
  
  In an a la carte system there will definately be those channels that, due to actual demand, will either see the consumer paying more for (than channels with greater saturation) or the producers of said channels will have to reduce their costs to the cable companies.
  
  In comparision, The Bible Broadcast Network has been on the radio for decades and is provided free of charge to whoever wants to listen in.Do they demand cash for your sins too? LOL
  But really I see the gilded golden cover sets of some of these "networks" and wonder WTF is going on are we not suppose to live humble simple lives not in "heaven 24/7", half of the tele-evangelists are even mroe scary..... oh ya....tax church...at least the big ones that rake in money and spend it on props like planes to show they are "doing good",really if you are not doing good within the US you need to be taxed and taxed twice for the stupidity of ignoring the poor here for glamor missions around the world...
  
  Now for church tat are open members of the community they are in,that help feed and cloth the poor and other comunity type services then hell the feds should give them money for doing work local governments are to dumb to do.
  
  As always its about moderation big church's are all about money lil ones at least try to not sound like talking dck wads.....
  
  
  Spirituality FTW,religion for the alliance!(WTF!)
  Just remember kids the horde are the good guys 0-o

  20.11.2007 21:03 #6

• duckNrun

  Quote: Do they demand cash for your sins too? LOL -- With the TV guys it's more lke they are demanding cash for your salvation.
  
  LOL. Re: BBN-- No these guys actually told me to give money to my local church BEFORE I gave it to them.
  
  Off topic just a hair:
  
  If the TV netowrks would put all their content up online they could sell subscriptions to their 'network' (literal as well as classical meaning) at or slightly more than they charge the cable companies to air them. Turn the cable companies into essentially just being the gateway to the content via their ISP services. I know MANY people who woudl pay a flat monthly fee to, say SCI-FI channel or NBC, WB whatever to watch all their shows streamed. They could have a three tiered membership. Free-- watch only this weeks episodes. Basic-- have access to that season's episodes whenever. Premium-- have the whole csatalog available to watch any show (even off air ones) from any season whenever.

  21.11.2007 05:00 #7

• maryjayne

  Religious group broadcasting vs. the public: looks like they dont stand a chance since the public has been asking for an a la carte system for years. Maybe the cable companies or the FCC will find it in their heart to make these channels free for all viewers. After all, we still need to channel surf and memorize which channels to automatically bypass.

  21.11.2007 07:51 #8

• empulse

  a la carte scares a lot of the networks, primarily most of us don't want to pay for sh!t. Some cable companies allow you to have them block certain channels. What people don't know is this: Say I were to block Fox News. They would no longer receive the 10cents or so from my monthly sub. that could add up pretty quick for some networks, even put many out of business. I say AWESOME. I won't be paying to have religion for sale pumped into my home. Nor Faux News. Nor Hunting. We will actually get to see what we want on TV and more networks will grow up from the wreckage to provide what people actually want to see.
  
  The religious bastards are the ones who scream foul the loudest an longest saying they are being silenced.. maybe its time they realise we aren't listening. Hell I have been trying to get an LP-FM license for years.. but 90% are taken up by churches and religious groups. There is a church on every street corner. No taxes for them. They can preach politics from the pulpit. They are a minority that controls a large amount of reach to the public. Yet people still don't want to listen to them. Maybe they should learn the art of S'ingTFU.

  21.11.2007 09:40 #9

• Iguana775

  This would be huge. No longer would I have to put up with the crap channels like the spanish channel, the HSN and any of those religious channels.

  21.11.2007 09:47 #10

• maitland

  heh, this is pretty cool, but the way you can really stick it to them is a simple 2 part method:
  
  1. disconnect the cable from the television
  2. stop paying the cable bill
  
  it works very nicely. television is nothing but mind control for which you pay hard earned cash. stop doing it and watch the world evolve.

  23.11.2007 19:26 #11

• borhan9

  Well at least they have God on their side :)

  19.12.2007 18:48 #12