Dish package family friendly

EchoStar chief warns, however, that 'bundling' limits choices

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 20, 2006 at midnight

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WASHINGTON - EchoStar Communications Corp. unveiled a package of family friendly programming Thursday, but consumers will have only limited choices unless Congress takes action to stop media conglomerates from "bundling" their programming, Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen told a U.S. Senate committee Thursday.

Rival satellite- and cable-television companies teamed up Thursday to announce steps meant to allay parents' concerns about explicit sexual content or violent programming on pay television.

The companies announced a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to educate parents on how to block objectionable programming using V-chip technology that is built into newer television sets.

Douglas County-based EchoStar, which owns satellite provider Dish Network, announced a new lineup of family friendly TV channels, DishFamily, for $19.99 per month, plus $5 for local broadcast channels.

The moves are in response to demands from family groups, led by Washington, D.C.-based Concerned Women for America, for a la carte programming that allows parents to block and avoid subsidizing channels they find objectionable.

Testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Thursday, Ergen praised the moves but also urged senators to pass legislation ending "bundling," a practice he said hampers choices for customers.

Currently, five major media conglomerates - News Corp., Viacom, Disney, NBC Universal and Hearst-Argyle Television - control 60 percent of the top 20 pay-television networks. Ergen said that gives them enormous leverage to demand that more of their channels be included in programming packages from EchoStar and other companies, meaning fewer choices in the family friendly tiers.

Ergen told senators he has had better luck negotiating with international programmers.

"This leads one to wonder why, in America, a free-market economy, a company like EchoStar can't deliver the packages consumers are asking for," Ergen testified.

He said he sympathizes with families who, studies show, don't watch two-thirds of the programming they pay for in their cable or satellite packages.

"A supermarket would love it if when you went to buy a gallon of milk, you also had to buy four pounds of beef," Ergen said outside the hearing.

Ergen's plan would stop short of what some family groups are demanding, a la carte menus of channels that would let customers pick and choose which stations they want. Still, he said, it would give customers far more choices and flexibility.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., questioned why the family tier packages offered by Dish or cable provider Comcast would not include sports channels such as ESPN.

"It almost seems like an invitation to an unmarketable package," Lautenberg said.

Ergen and David Cohen, executive vice president for Comcast Corp., said ESPN's nonsports programming, including adult-oriented shows such as Tilt, which focused on high-stakes gamblers but is no longer aired, makes the network less than family friendly.

The family friendly packages announced by pay-TV providers, including EchoStar's on Thursday, still don't satisfy critics of explicit programming. A coalition of family groups led by Concerned Women for America has dismissed the moves as little more than "good public relations."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, R-W.Va., said increased choice is "by definition a good thing." But, he added, "I don't believe voluntary action alone . . . is sufficient to address this issue."

Rockefeller has proposed legislation that would require the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether existing technologies are effective in protecting children from objectionable material, including sexual or violent content. If not, that could open the door for stricter regulation of pay-television content.

The debate over a la carte programming has raged since last year. Industry officials say it would increase costs to consumers and sharply reduce overall choices because some channels would no longer be financially viable.

Ergen joined Cohen and Jack Valenti, former chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, in touting a new ad blitz aimed at educating parents about how to use existing technology to block objectionable programs and channels.

"We have to build a system so that if you want to use a television as a babysitter, you can control what you want (children) to watch," Ergen said.

Valenti said objectionable programming would not be as much of a concern if more people learned how to use existing V-chip technology or additional systems the providers have in place to block unwanted channels and shows.

"It's remarkable. It's simple, and even a technological innocent like myself gets the hang of it very easily," Valenti told senators. "And the beauty of this is we don't torture the intent of the First Amendment."

The committee chairman, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, praised the steps the industry has taken, saying he prefers voluntary action to legislation, which could be considered later this year.

As for First Amendment concerns, "Whatever we mandate is going to go to court," Stevens said. "Whatever we work out on a consensus basis is going to happen now."

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