Six Cable Cos. To Offer ‘Family’ Packages
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Time Warner and Comcast are among six American cable-TV companies that plan to offer packages of family-friendly programs in response to pressure from federal regulators and Congress. Offering a grouping of family programs marks an effort to appease lawmakers and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, who are stepping up their push for curbs on indecency. Mr. Martin has offered cable companies the chance to either set up family programming, agree to indecency standards or agree to provide all channels individually.
“They intend to offer family-friendly tiers in the near future,” the president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Kyle McSlarrow, told the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington yesterday.
The programs will be offered only on digital-cable, Mr. McSlarrow said. Advance/Newhouse Communications, Insight Communications, Midcontinent Communications, and Bresnan Communications also plan to offer programming geared toward families, he said.
