The cable industry is gaming the system, and it shouldn’t surprise you that they are stacking the deck against consumers yet again.
As talks continue in Washington, D.C. regarding the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), the unified pay-TV lobby is attempting to rip-off and mislead American consumers while working to increase the cable and satellite industry’s record profits.
In their latest coup, cable operators are attempting to eliminate the lifeline basic service tier provision from the STELA reauthorization, which would disadvantage millions of Americans who depend on this vital service. Low-income households, seniors, minority communities and underserved populations across the U.S. greatly depend on the basic tier to access their local broadcast TV channels for important news, information and entertainment programming.
It goes without saying that broadcast channels provide the most engaging and popular content on television – from Fox’s American Idol to CBS’ NCIS – but broadcasters also provide a very important role in American communities. In times of severe weather or local emergencies, such as Amber alerts, people look to the trusted, familiar faces of local news broadcasters to stay informed with up-to-the-minute coverage and unparalleled local analysis.
No other media outlet can provide the same level of service when it comes to rapid, on-the-ground coverage in quite the same way as local broadcasters can. As Jay Huizenga of KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota noted in the Argus Leader this past March regarding the efficiency of local broadcasting, “In emergency situations, no other communications channel is better equipped with regional knowledge and on-site reporting capabilities.”
If the pay-TV industry succeeds in stripping the basic tier provision from STELA, it will force America’s households that have relied on this affordable cable programming package to shell out more of their hard-earned money to be able to access programming that they want and need.
Local broadcasters understand the importance of community-oriented news, and many feel that they provide a service to the public that is crucial to keeping their region informed and safe from danger.
Unfortunately for consumers, if cable operators get their way and strip the basic tier provision from their programming options, additional factors will further complicate the consumer’s television experience. Pay-TV providers are notorious for keeping their customers in the dark about what services can be accessed, and their billing practices are often opaque.
If consumers wanted to access a basic service package from their cable or satellite provider, would they likely know off-hand what services that would include or how much it would cost? Most would not, and perusing providers’ websites offers consumers very little information on basic tier programming options – forcing consumers to call customer service for assistance.
Families and individuals who contact customer service to learn more about the most affordable, basic programming packages from their service provider, are often met with high-pressure sales situations in which they are strong-armed into subscribing to more expensive service packages with limited promotional service options that undoubtedly expire before the multi-year contract runs out.
If the pay-TV industry succeeds in cutting the lifeline basic service tier provision from STELA, consumers will be forced to pay even higher costs for these elusive basic packages, and the frustratingly vague pricing mechanisms will make the search even more costly.
Lawmaker and policymakers must work to preserve this long-standing provision in the public interest and to prevent the pay-TV industry from further maximizing profits at the expense America’s most vulnerable low-income and underserved households.
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Robert C Kenny is the Director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations, and other independent organizations; he formerly served as Press Secretary at the FCC.
