April 15, 2008

DTV2009: FCC Head Honcho Kevin Martin Forgets About Digital TV Transition, Instead Shows His Anti-Consumer Colors

While FCC head Kevin Martin's focus should probably be on the digital TV transition and the consumer education problems that's come along with it, big name cable programmers such as ESPN and MTV Networks are calling him out for focusing on something else altogether.

A misplaced comment by Martin proposing a la carte cable packages for channels that are more expensive to subscribers currently, but integrated into typical cable subscriptions has put him under fire. Not only is his focus a far cry from DTV2009, but the a la carte proposal would take the most popular cable channels, and separate them expanded basic cable putting them into their own pay packages, costing us more and penalizing popular networks with price controls.

Inevitably, the passing of such a proposal would force cable programmers to cut back on their currently diverse programming lineups meaning you, the consumer, would end up paying more for less.

Of course, if you currently receive over-the-air analog signals right now, this might not affect you because not only are you not a cable subscriber, but your set is to go dead come February 17, 2009. Then again, unless you're reading this right now, you may not know this because Kevin Martin forgot to tell you.

If you'd like to send Martin a line, letting him know you want him to smarten the &^%* up, you can send him an email here.

Via Broadcasting & Cable

Read More in: Digital TV Transition 2009