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from: Reuters

Tue, Jan 12 2010

By Yinka Adegoke - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable companies, burdened by the cost of programing, are starting to seriously consider something they have long resisted: letting television subscribers pay for just those channels they want to watch.

For years consumer advocates, regulators and politicians have argued that cable TV providers should allow consumers to choose their own TV channels or buy smaller packages, rather than bundle around 100 fixed channels at prices usually starting around $50 a month.

from: The Morning Star

Lawmakers Press FCC On AT&T's Public Program Offerings
9-17-08 2:10 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Members of a powerful House committee are pressing the Federal Communications Commission to put a stop to how AT&T Inc. (T) offers public and educational programming on its fledgling paid TV service.

from: Riedel Communications

More Verminators!

On the eve of a Congressional hearing regarding what has happened to Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels since the passage of statewide or state issued franchise legislation, it is heartening to note that the cable and telecom industries (and the FCC) have severely overplayed their hand. Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will hear a laundry list of harms done to PEG in what appears to be an industry-wide effort to bury and destroy these local channels. An effort that was spawned by the FCC’s First and Second Report and Order on Video Franchising and the nineteen states that passed the state legislation. These harms come at a time when Congress and the American people are acutely sensitive to media consolidation and the loss of localism.

The following link is scheduled to provide a live look at this morning's subcommittee meeting on PEG:

http://appropriations.edgeboss.net/wmedia-live/appropriations/33698/282_appropriations-happrops_080213.asx

Background:

Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Hearing on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) Access for Cable Television

from: Long Island Business News

Cablevision fights back

By Pete Weiss

Friday, March 7, 2008

When Verizon first cracked the Long Island market with its vaunted FiOS television service, some analysts – and the company itself – predicted subscribers would leave Cablevision in droves for the phone company’s video service.

A very useful article for sorting out all the broadcast digital transition (DTV) misinformation in the media these days. It also highlights cable company strategies for playing the transition to their own end (the cable digital transition deadline isn't until Feb 2012). Lost here is any mention of affordable 'basic' cable service, the tier of analog service consisting of local broadcast and PEG channels priced to ensure that low-income and fixed income families can afford basic local TV service. We need to ensure that digital cable affords this tier of service for those that need it most.

from: MultiChannel News

Analog is Dead. Long Live Analog
Why Cable Won’t Go All-Digital By Feb. 18, 2009, Even If Broadcasters Will

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 2/18/2008 8:22:00 AM

Is analog TV an albatross for cable?

from: Multichannel News

Where PEG Fits In Squarely

_ At a public hearing in New York City on Jan. 17, a man stood up and told city officials about a category of local programming that is cable-exclusive.

"You're not going to find this on satellite," the man said. "You're going to find it on cable."

from: MultiChannel News

N.C. Franchise Law Helping … Cable Incumbents
AT&T, Other Competitors Have Yet To Apply For Statewide Application
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 2/16/2008 9:29:00 AM

A bill designed to aid competitive video providers in North Carolina has actually deregulated many incumbent operators, while no new competitors have applied to serve the state, according to data compiled by a municipal consultant.

from: MSNBC

Cable TV: King of misleading come-ons
Companies focus on bottom line, not customer satisfaction

By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
updated 9:38 p.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 28, 2008

Television, from the start, has always been addictive. And there’s nothing easier than stealing from an addict.

from: NY Daily News

City to hold hearings for cable watchers

BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, January 4th 2008, 4:00 AM

The city is giving cable television viewers a rare opportunity to make some static about the service they get from providers.