Mccain revives push for ‘a la carte cable’
U.S. Sen. John McCain introduced a new version of a bill last week that he hopes will bring cable- and satellite-television viewers the opportunity to pick and choose which channels they want rather than have to pay for a bundled package that includes dozens of channels they never watch.
McCain, R-Ariz., for years has championed the concept of “a la carte cable,” an idea that is wildly popular with consumers but not so much with cable companies and programmers. In the past, industry critics have argued that a system of individually priced channels is not financially feasible. This year, McCain is further exciting populist passions by including a provision that would end TV blackouts of sports games held in taxpayer-financed venues.
McCain’s last serious attempt to change cable TV was in 2006, when he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications issues. McCain no longer sits
McCain’s last serious attempt to change cable TV was in 2006, when he was chair of the Senate Commerce Committee.
on the Commerce Committee but he announced Friday that he will testify about his legislation before the panel Tuesday at a hearing on the “State of Video.”
“As a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this effort to give consumers more choices and more control over their cable bills,” McCain said in a written statement. “The current regulatory structure is rigged in favor of corporate interests over consumers, resulting in Americans paying ever-higher cable bills for channels they do not want to watch.”
Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, said a tough fight is expected from cable, broadcast and programmer lobbyists, but added that public frustration with the status quo is high.
“It’s just a fundamental wrong that has gnawed at him for a long time,” Rogers said.
Susan Bitter Smith, executive director of the Southwest Cable Communications Association, said technological improvements and market forces already have given consumers new options, such as Netflix, and will produce more innovations. But her industry wants “to do things continually better and be competitive” and thus is looking forward to a dialogue with McCain, she said.
Though the bill is given long odds of passing both the Senate and the House, McCain’s return to the a la carte cable issue is feeding speculation that he might not seek a sixth U.S. Senate term in 2016.
“If it is his last term, he may simply be revisiting all of the proposals that haven’t passed that he still likes,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “They often do that in their last term: They try to push something through to build their legacy.”