Federal Communications Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said Tuesday that cable providers new cable options still do not give consumers enough choice. Reacting to pressure from the FCC and lawmakers, several cable providers, including Time Warner and Comcast, have recently released plans to offer family friendly packages; however, they have held back on any plans to provide cable a la carte.
Members of the cable industry insist that offering cable a la carte will ultimately cut down on options because channels that do not have much of an audience will not have enough support to continue broadcasting.
Even so, Tate admitted that whether or not to offer a la carte cable may not be an issue in upcoming years, due to competition from phone companies Verizon and AT&T entering the cable market as well as other developing technologies that might make the subject moot. Read US FCC's Tate says new cable TV options not enough to find out more information about the subject.
