October 29, 2004
Willkie telecom attorneys in Washington help Comcast, Bloomberg, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association successfully oppose legislation that would required cable operators to fundamentally alter how they package and price their services.
Working in concert with other industry players, attorneys from Willkie’s Telecommunications Department in Washington helped Comcast, Bloomberg, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association to successfully oppose legislation that would have required cable operators to fundamentally alter how they package and price their services. Fueled by certain legislators' concerns about increasing cable prices and a new emphasis on curbing indecent programming sparked by the Super Bowl halftime show, some in Congress wished to require cable operators to permit consumers to buy video channels on an 'a la carte' basis (as opposed to the 'programming tiers' that are common today). Willkie attorneys helped to demonstrate that any such requirement would actually raise consumer prices and reduce the breadth and diversity of programming available for viewing. While the battle was won on the Hill, the war rages on. Congress has asked the FCC to study the possible effects of a la carte regulations and issue a report on the topic this Fall. Willkie telecom attorneys have been active in supplying the FCC with legal, policy, and economic reasons addressing why cable pricing and packaging decisions should be governed by the marketplace, not government regulation. Nonetheless, once the FCC issues its report, attention will likely turn back to Capitol Hill, where certain representatives will most likely try to rekindle an interest in a la carte legislation -- or otherwise resume efforts to re-regulate cable pricing decisions.