jfwjxn
join:2002-03-26
Portage, MI | A la carte means set top boxes... Of course Cablevision likes this. If the FCC requires A La Carte, the cable companies can start requiring everyone to have a set top box, and then rake in the profits from that. Plus the fact in the end it will not amount to a better deal for "power watchers." |
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 WorkinClsDogFormer VoIP EngineerPremium,VIP
join:2003-01-01
Piscataway, NJ | said by jfwjxn:Of course Cablevision likes this. If the FCC requires A La Carte, the cable companies can start requiring everyone to have a set top box I don't think so - at least the way the regulatory environment is now - the FCC would have to shake up the rules a bit -
Set Top Boxes are not allowed to be "required" to provide basic services, and if I believe as such a cableco can not legally require one (look at Cable Cards as an example - they are legally mandated so that homes don't have to get a STB)
It will be interesting to see how the FCC spins this whole thing out and makes it work...
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WCD
Brian: Hey, barkeep, whose leg do you have to hump to get a dry martini around here?
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| You could use a cable card but then the cable company will just raise the cost to rent a cable card up to $5. |
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 marigoldsGainfully employed, finallyPremium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1 | reply to WorkinClsDog
said by WorkinClsDog:Set Top Boxes are not allowed to be "required" to provide basic services, and if I believe as such a cableco can not legally require one (look at Cable Cards as an example - they are legally mandated so that homes don't have to get a STB) A la carte channels do not have to be offered on analog though. It was a ruling the FCC made a couple of years ago, after which many cable companies got rid of analog hbo and cinemax. The FCC could have stopped at premium movie channels, but they didn't. So, you can either have a digital ready tv with cable card, or get a set top box. Basic services as defined by the local franchise still would have to be offered analog (and would still be a package), and everyone getting a la carte would be required to subscribe to basic services.
There is an exception though. If a system converts to all digital (like a true a la carte system), then set top boxes can be required of even basic subscribers.
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