In what was a surprising turnaround at the time, the FCC, in late 2005, started supporting the idea of "a la carte" pricing of cable channels, after issuing an earlier report (pdf) funded by the cable industry that proclaimed the move would result in higher prices for consumers. As cable-rate-hike season rolls around each year, the idea gets brought up as a possible panacea, but is never implemented. The issue has been a pet project of Senator John McCain.

FCC chief Kevin Martin's 180 came because he's responsive to the indecency concerns of "family values" groups who want to block individual "offensive" channels. AT&T is also on the record as wanting a la carte and also clearly has Martin's ear. Martin is pushing hard again, this time arguing that a la carte would allow for more personally tailored advertising, though his argument has a few holes. Meanwhile, the cable industry is getting increasingly annoyed by the current FCC, who they believe are focused largely on telco concerns.

Of course, the cable industry, who raises cable rates every year like clockwork, will also tell you that cable prices have actually dropped. Gosh, none of this would really matter if -- say -- a TV revolution were coming where users could somehow pick from a wide variety of video content delivered outside the control of traditional carriers....