FCC wants your 2 cents on how much TV channels should cost
March 19th, 2010, 3:26 pm · 30 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
If ads warning that the Fox TV channel could get yanked from service made you anxious, annoyed or even thrilled, the Federal Communications Commission wants to hear from you.
The agency, which regulates the cable and satellite TV industry, began accepting anyone’s comment Friday on what they think about retransmission fees. Such fees are what made Time Warner Cable and Fox launch public campaigns over the holidays. Fox wanted Time Warner to pay a fee for every cable customer who had access to Fox.
This is your chance to let the government know how the fees affect customers: They make our prices go up every year. While you’re at it, you may want to offer your thoughts on paying for TV channels a la carte, or pay for only the ones you want.
Orange County customers ultimately didn’t see any shows pulled as the two sides resolved their differences — in private. But not so lucky were Cablevision customers on the East Coast who already this year lost access (temporarily) to Food Networks and ABC.
Time Warner — joined by Dish Network, DirecTV, Cablevision and 11 others — led the way last week when it told the FCC the method for negotiating a fair price for TV channels needed an update. It told the FCC:
Consumers are increasingly being put in the middle of disputes between programmers and distributors, including recurring threats of going dark, high-stakes public negotiations, and, in the case of ABC’s recent withdrawal of programming from three million Cablevision subscribers, highly disruptive blackouts. … The 14 petitioners asked the FCC to implement new dispute resolution mechanisms –such as compulsory arbitration or an expert tribunal — and require continued carriage of broadcast signals during negotiations or disputes, to help ensure uninterrupted programming for consumers. The petitioners implore the FCC to act expeditiously to help prevent further consumer harm.
The FCC is accepting public comments through May 4. Anyone can file a comment. Here’s how to do it:
Online: Go to the Federal electronic comment page (link: bit.ly/b87tac) or the Federal eRulemaking Portal (link: regulations.gov). You’ll need to include a mailing address, the docket number (MB Docket No. 10-71) and e-mail address.
Snail mail: You must send the original comment plus four copies addressed to Commission’s Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. They can be delivered in the following methods (sounds complicated!):
- All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and PriorityMail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
- U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and Priority Mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554.
- One copy of each filing must be sent to Diana Sokolow, Media Bureau, Room 4-A734, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554 or diana.sokolow@fcc.gov.
Previously on TV fees:
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I wonder how fast their costs would come down if everybody could unplug their TV’s for a month, if it would even take that long. Remember the power of money and how to use that power.
I did some research on this. ESPN gets 2-3$ each month per household. This is by far the most of any cable station. Most other stations get under 50 cents for the big ones and 10 cents for the little ones like food netwrk. The networks are starting to force the cable companies into paying them and they are getting 50-65 cents a month.
Your entire bill for content paid out by the cable companies is under $10. more like $7. So why is your cable bill $120/month.
First the cable companies all make tremendous profits becasue they have little competion and keep raising rates. The other thing is they do have large interest expenses becasue they all spent so much money buying up the little cable companies.
Cable TV is without a doubt the biggest ripoff in this country. The cards are beginning to crumble, satellite is a help to control costs. I would love to switch to ATT, but the cable compaines are bribing city officials to keep them out.
Watch, in 10 years when we have more options cable will be back to $19, like the phone bill is
Actually, the common figure for ESPN is $4 per subscriber. Peter Kafka, at the Wall Street Journal, recently got hold of an analyst’s estimate on what the fees really are (link). As I’ve said in the past, cable has a lot of opportunity right now to make a huge change (start offering a la carte) and gain customer good will. Of course the argument against a la carte is that some of the not so popular channels won’t survive. Fans of those networks surely won’t be happy with that. But anyway, with all the options available today (web, satellite, etc), something’s got to budge with the cable industry.
The channel providers wanted “a la carte” programming, but the US Congress nixed that idea a year or so ago.
yeah . . . i really think a la carte is the besy way to go . . . of the 200+ channels that i have access to . . . i watch about ten of those 95 percent of the time . . . i’d guess that well over 90 percent of all my channels are never watched . . . i really don’t care to subsidize other people’s watching habits . . . with that, i’d be willing to pay a base/access/privilege fee of twenty to thirty bucks with a per-channel fee of 1-5 dollars (pending the channel) . . . that would be a monthly fee of forty to sixty bucks . . . much mor palatable . . .
How much should a TV channel cost? With or without commercial? With or without those annoying crawl and pop up ads on top of what you are trying to watch? And why should I be paying more, for all that when I already pay the cable company for the privilege. I would settle for forced a la carte programming. I am tired of subsiding all these crummy channels I never watch.
They make money from their advertisers. If their customer base is increased by the cable companies then the advertisers should be thrilled and happy to pay a bit more for the expanded audience. If they want the cable company to pay more, the cable companies should ask their customers if they want it. If we don’t want it, don’t charge us for it. Heck, the library is just down the street if there’s nothing on I want to see.
I do not understand why we have to pay at all!!! I thought that was what the commercials were all about. If 1.2 million for a 30 second ad doesn’t cover the cost of a show then something is seriously wrong.I don’t mind paying for movie channels because I do not like watching a movie with commercials.
Corporate greed. It doesn’t matter how many millions or billions they make, it’s about how much they can squeeze out their customers. When they see massive drops in customers, then they know they squeezed too much and will probably drop price to get back some customers. Corporation are here to maximize profits for their shareholders, not to serve the community. Don’t expect government to fight for consumers. Those crooked politicians are on the cable company’s payroll to stifle any competition of their monopoly. Until consumers fight back in masses, they will keep jacking up prices.
Charge me $100 a month for all the channels. Then, deduct 2 cents for every ad I watch.
If they would, you’d get a check from the Cable Company every month.
A big check.
I pay nothing because they are worth nothing to me. I get free channels with my digital antenna. Enough for me. Cable is junk. Netflix provides me with everything else at a fraction of the cost.
how about free!
I use an antenna. I wouldn’t pay for FOX at all.
That’s funny.
FOX TV is just like al the others, American Idol, Fringe etc. Where you are missing out is the FOX News.
They kick butt over all the other channel news. They beat CNN 4-1 most times.
What we shouldn’t be paying for at all is PBS, it already gets taxpayers money to put on their drivel!
I got rid of Cable TV 4 years ago. Replaced it with Netflix, Hulu and other streamed internet content (comedy central, news and radio stations). I also have rabbit ears (its really a big plastic square antenna) with digital capability.
I dont miss cable even for a minute and have even a better experience since I watch media on my schedule with very little interruption and the ability to pause. Cable TV is a rippoff.
Tip: it helps to have a clean, efficient laptop on wireless setup with lots of bandwidth (as I do)
Has anyone tried to use this new feedback page to leave a comment with the FCC? The docket number (MB 10-71) gets you the “no results found” message. The whole site is a confusing pile of government red tape.
I agree, the FCC website is not user friendly at all….Typical government. Want your opinion but don’t make it easy to give it.
This is far to involved just like everything else in our government. The form just needs to allow your comment and forget all the other junk they are asking for.
The truth is.. The FCC don’t want to hear from you at all. They will do, what they will do.
back in the day tv use to be free whats wrong with free tv .Now we pay for the same shows that were on tv 20 and 30 years ago.
I hear you aksteve! I “Cut the Cord’ Three years ago because of declining quality. When I first subscribed to cable thirty years ago I was like a Child on Christmas Morning. We were promised more Variety if we subscribed to cable, with Programming geared to everyones tastes. We were also promised less Commercials, because after all we PAID to watch TV. Insted the following has happened. Numorous “Niche” Channels abandoned their format and replacing their specialty programming with either programs from other Networks and/or “Reality” Programming, along with rampant advertising. The amount of Commercials shown has nearly doubled in the last 15 years, and if that isn’t enough the advertising continues into the Programs themselves! (In the form of “Pop-Ups” Scrolls and Banners). I keep wishing someday people will get fed up with all that has been happening lately and stage a “Subscriber Revolt”, cutting off their subscriptions en masse. As it is I have done pretty well using the funds formerly used to pay for my subscription to purchase Programming and Movies on Home Video.
William Hughes, it was during the Reagan administration that the ‘three-minute rule’ concerning commercials was abandoned. It was deemed bad for business…
When the “Three Minute” Rule was dropped (Due to a Court Decision) The amount of Commercials increased from 10 to 12 Minutes of Commercials per Hour, and a new kind of commercial introduced itself, the so-called “Infomercial” which knocked off all the old “B-Movies” that used to dominate Late-Night Television. Things held their own for about 15 years, then The Clinton Administration signed a Bill allowing Pharmaceutical Companies to advertise Prescription Drugs. To make room for thwse new Commercials more time was alotted for Commercials, I have seen up to 26 Minutes of Commercials per hour on some shows. In 2004 The Pharmaceutical Companies began advertising Prescription Drug Commercials dealing with certain “Bodily Functions” including Sex. After seeing one of those commercials aired during a Childrens show I decided enough was enough, and Cancelled my Subscription.
When Comcast raised their expanded basic to $65 I downgraded to the lowest level, which still provides local channels for $17.50 per month. As far as I can see, it doesn’t matter whether you have 400 channels or 10: there’s still nothing to watch. I am holding out for a la carte pricing. The measure of a viewers willingness to watch programming ought to be the criteria as to the final settlement. I only want to pay for what I use.
I got rid of Cable TV 2 years ago. Replaced it with net downloads, Hulu, and other streamed internet content (comedy central, news and radio stations). I also have a good HD anttena that pics up the locals.
I dont miss cable and have a better experience since I watch media on my schedule with very little interruption and the ability to pause. Cable TV is a rippoff.
Tip: it helps to have a clean, efficient laptop on wireless setup with lots of bandwidth (as I do)
Tip: buy and FTA box!
I save well over a $100 each month with free tv and free internet. It’s the American way..I’m entitled to it.
Seriously though ditch the cable (I hate Verizon with a passion) and go with a good antenna (I got mine for as little as $65 at Home Depot).Combined with a good flat screen tv tuner I pick up all the main stations. It’s enough for me and my kids are happy too.
We dropped our cable service because we’re paying a lot for content that we were not interested in.
I would like to see an a la’ carte option for cable where you select the channels that you’re interested in viewing monthly.
the commercials hve got to long cant afford movie channells cable to high hd chan.to high i get pbs and abc on local ant.
I think you should be able to select about 100 channels you want to watch (no infomercials or paid sales broadcasts, please).
I think a flat rate of about $35.00 is fair.
If you want to include phone & internet, add $20.00 for unlimited service.
We’d all be better off, and they’d make plenty of money.