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Preachers Oppose FCC Indecency Rule
They are usually in the position of denouncing the indecent material available through Cable TV, but televangelists are now siding with the very people they condemn as smut peddlers. So reports the Los Angeles Times, which explains that televangelists are opposed to a proposed rule change which would offer viewers an opportunity to choose the programming they want, as opposed to the present rules that allow cable operators to "bundle" their offerings, making available all sorts of programs most viewers neither want nor watch. One Federal Communications Commission study, for example, showed viewers on average regularly watch a mere 17 of the more than 100 cable channels they typically receive. Under the proposed new rules, televangelists, who benefit from bundling, would lose their niche on cable TV.
As the Times explains, what started out largely as an issue of consumer choice has now spread into a larger controversy involving whether cable operators should be required to continue exposing subscribers to niche channels, including religious ones, that people might not order on their own or want.
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"We don't just want to preach to the choir; we want to reach the unchurched," Paul Crouch Jr. of Trinity Broadcast Network in Santa Ana told the Times. "The bottom line is that we want to be everywhere on cable." That stand has put the televangelists into the same corner as the smut merchants who rely on cable to carry their programming. The Times says that Christian broadcasters, including such big names as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, worry that changing the current system will cut into viewership. If that puts them on the opposite side of where they usually stand in the indecency debate, Crouch said, "so be it." The Times reports that consumer advocates are pushing to allow viewers to choose their channels rather than pay for ones they don't watch. Aligned with consumer groups are lawmakers and advocacy groups claiming the so-called "a la carte" system is a way to give cable TV subscribers more flexibility to drop channels with adult fare, citing such programs as the plastic surgery drama "Nip/Tuck" on FX that regularly features sex and graphic depictions of medical procedures.
Among those favoring viewer choice is Tim Winters, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council, usually found on the side of the religious broadcasters. Says Winters, "‘A la carte’ is a solution that will immediately address the issue of indecency on cable." Winters adds that religious broadcasters oppose more cable choice because they "are very fearful of losing any market share." Also on the a la carte side is Gospel Music President Charles Humbard, son of televangelist pioneer Rex Humbard. He told the Times "I don't think the answer to indecency is necessarily more religious programming. The answer is for people who know better to correct what's going on … by extending broadcasting indecency rules to cable." And cable TV is where the indecency problem lies. The Times notes that Cable TV has emerged as a major indecency battleground. Because programs aren't transmitted into homes over public airwaves, cable operators are exempt from regulations involving sex and language. They also are shielded from the pressures of the FCC, which exercises powerful influence over broadcasters because it regulates station licenses. Cable operators and major media companies oppose any efforts to regulate programming. "It's not fair to handicap us with these requirements because we want to be free to give consumers what the marketplace wants," said David Grabert, a spokesman for cable operator Cox Communications Inc. Of the "a la carte” controversy Preston Padden, executive vice president of government relations for Walt Disney Co., warns that if such a proposal is enacted, viewers stand to lose. "Consumers likely would pay more, and get less." Editor's note:
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