Vermont Senator Wants Low-Cost Cable
Bill Would Require Operators to Provide Local TV Signals at a Discount
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 11/18/2008 11:42:00 AM
Washington—Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) is about to introduce legislation that would require cable operators to provide local TV signals at a reduced cost indefinitely to people who lose over-the-air TV service as a result of the digital transition next February.
Sanders, who sought support for the bill in a Nov. 13 letter circulated to other senators, is worried that hundreds of thousands of homes could lose TV service when traditional analog signals are turned off on Feb. 17, 2009.
"That is why I am introducing legislation that would require cable, satellite, and other paid TV companies to provide a basic broadcast service to those consumers who have lost channels due the DTV transition at a reduced cost, indefinitely," his two-page letter said.
According to Sanders, the U.S. has 16 million homes that rely exclusively on free, over-the-air broadcasting. A Sanders aide said as many as 5% of those homes—800,000—could lose at least one local TV signal after the digital switch due to things such as weaker digital signal strength and local terrain challenges.
"Regardless of one's ability to pay, it is unfair to ask consumers who lose their TV reception to pay for what they previously received for free," Sanders said. "Because the federal government was responsible for mandating this DTV transition, I believe it is the federal government's duty, along with a wide-range of industry partners, to ensure that our constituents are held harmless."
A spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association declined to comment.
The Sanders aide said the bill would establish the criteria for determining who had lost free TV signals and is thus eligible to buy a lifeline service that consisted solely of local TV signals. Money remaining from the federal government's $1.5 billion converter box coupon program might be used to cover a portion of equipment installation costs, the aide added.
The bill would attempt to keep the basic cable price at $10 a month or less, similar to Comcast's recently announced DTV transition promotion that expires after one year.
"We may go lower," the Sanders aide said.
By having the bill require a cheap basic package "indefinitely," Sanders would mean "until the end of time, a long period of time," his aide said.
"There's no point in going and doing the legislation if we're just going to match what Comcast is already doing," the aide said.
Local TV stations would not be able to collect retransmission consent from cable subscribers who signed up for the local signal package, the Sanders aide said.
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The problem the Senator is trying to address is that some stations will not have the same coverage in digital as they had in analog before. Cable companies would not have to pay retrans fees on these customers. These are customers that probably would never subscribe to cable anyway. I and my family consider cable to be like an electronic "pimp" handing off services that I can get for free myself. I would never consider paying more than $8 or $10 dollars if anything for a cable service. Since I'm in the broadcast biz, I should be one of those people in the "family" who gets service free because I supply them content anyway.
The entire notion of paying for TV just doesn't sit proper with me anyway. Cable companies originally charged about $8 a month when they first started, they have brainwashed too many people into their ways.
George K - 11/25/2008 9:55:00 PM EST -
Geri and the Texas Cable Manager need to read the whole
article.
It says specifically that retransmission consent would
not apply.
As for it being redundant, the converter coupon program
only discounts marked-up converter boxes. It should
have applied to new DTV sets, and antenna upgrades.
Without a roof antenna, several local stations simply
show "No signal", where the analog versions worked fine
on rabbit ears. A roof antenna is the better part of
$300-600.
Cable Me Not - 11/25/2008 7:40:00 PM EST -
How about FREE VERMONT Maple Syrup for all American's? Think about it, include vouchers with the purchase of DTA converters for free 100% Genuine Vermont Maple Syrup. Good god my good Senator - don't you think it's time to let yourself out into the pasture?
Quigley Spargus - 11/25/2008 1:34:00 PM EST -
It would help if the Senator paid attention to just what a crime the digital TV transition really is. In other countries where politics did not play such a cruel role digital TV is causing the rebirth of over the air TV.
What did the our broadcasters, the FCC, Congress and the CEA do wrong? They let the CEA dictate the worst digital TV modulation in the world.
Not only could the citizens of Vermont have easy reception of digital TV and lots of it but they could have had it for the last 10 years.
It still could be fixed but Congress would have to wake up which is very unlikely seeing what they have done with almost every government department and most of our assets lately.
Robert T. Miller - 11/19/2008 3:30:00 PM EST -
I agree with many of the sentiments displayed by other (obviously informed and literate) consumers.
The Government is already footing (i.e. "we," as tax payers) the bill for this transition to these users who are still utilizing "rabbit ears" by providing a coupon to receive the digital box to use after the transition period.
Perhaps this Senator would be best to leave the affairs of the public to the informed and literate populace?
I find it distressing. Regulators and politicians are all scrambling for their five minutes of fame by advertising their ideas on pro-consumer options without doing research into how this will negatively impact the businesses they are shoveling their harebrained schemes at.
The money has to come from somewhere.
Businesses don't stay in business by giving their most expensive services for free without some way to recoup their costs.
For those politicians and regulators imposing such plans, how should such companies recoup their losses? Selling out their customer's internet traffic data to third party companies? Sending email addresses of their customers to third parties to distribute to other marketing agencies?
Anthony in VA - 11/19/2008 2:45:00 PM EST
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