LOS ANGELES – Cable network operators are warning that the so-called a la carte plans that let customers pick which cable channels to receive could ultimately reduce choice and the broad diversity viewers now enjoy.
New channels that appeal to golfers, nature lovers, military buffs or other niche groups would never make the airwaves, they say.
Smaller cable channels, especially, say they depend on the current system’s guaranteed access to a cable company’s large audience. Access to fewer homes would mean less money from advertising and from cable providers, and thus less money for investments in talent and programming.
Debra Lee, chief executive of Black Entertainment Television, likens the current system to a shopping mall. “You have small boutiques next to Macy’s and Bloomingdales,” Lee said. “Without that traffic, those small boutiques wouldn’t be able to exist.”
In the cable world, BET exists because it’s next to the USA Network and ESPN, she said.
“Diversity is the promise of cable,” Lee said. “Before cable, there were three networks and they appealed to a mass audience, which meant they didn’t have a lot of programming targeted to African-Americans, Hispanics or any other ethnic groups.”
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