PTC, CWA Push A La Carte

Even as the cable industry announces its participation in a push for parental regulation of content, the Parent's Television Council Wednesday will launch a counter-offensive.

PTC is teaming with the CWA (that's Concerned Women of America rather than communications workers*) to push for government regulation of cable--specifically mandated a la carte service--to combat what they say is forcing consumers to subsidize programming that is "obscene, violent and immoral."

That letter follows one by a group of conservative groups, including PTC President Brent Bozell and American Family Association's Donald Wildmon, also calling for government-posed a la carte as a way to control programming into the home

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association was one of a host of groups that is launching "Pause Parent Play" Wednesday, an effort to push parental control as alternative to government control of TV, movies, music, and video games.

* The other CWA, Communications Workers of America, has also come out in favor of a la carte in a letter to the FCC and Congress two weeks ago.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.