TWC's Family Tier - what channels?

[dkennedy]

What channels do you think Time Warner cable will use for it's new family tier?

[hurnik]

Pax, "fox family" or whatever that is (although IMO, some of the shows aren't what I would be allowed to watch as a child).

Disney channels

Not sure about the rest. Maybe National Geographic?

Of course, I wouldn't let my kids watch half the shows that I myself watch (I suppose a bit hypocritical), but that's me.

[dkennedy]

I watched the live C-Span broadcast of the Senate proceedings yesterday when it was announce that TW will provide a family tier.

One interesting comment was that TW will need to provide a basic tier by law and will offer another tier above basic, instead of just the standard tier, it will offer a standard and family tier. You choose which tier you want above basic. Above that will be the digital tier which we're all familiar with.

And then another comment was made that the family tier had to be digital. So you would jump from basic to a digital family tier. No specifics, but someone did say this would require each TV in the household that wanted a family tier to have a STB. (Makes that inviting for TW since it would require more money from subscribers for the extra STB's).

Another problem was mentioned and that is of existing contractual obligations, for example, Disney wants you to carry all their channels in any tier, which includes ESPN etc...

Another comment was made that a family tier will force some channels out of business because they exist out of the subsidy of the tier. (In my opinion this guy didn't have a clue because one Senator stated why do we have to subsidize channels we don't watch?). By the way, Senator Martin never got an answer to that question...which leads to a la carte...I think Senator Martin will most likely settle for a family tier instead of a la carte...because the way his questions were phrased indicated that he would settle for a family tier...

Anyways...I for one welcome a family tier...however, my wife made a comment which stated that I wont be happy with a family tier that doesn't include the Golf and SCIFI channels. She is right of course...oh I really want a la carte...

[dkennedy]

Cable to offer a family package

Companies hope move halts calls in Congress for per-channel pricing

December 13, 2005

By Mark Washburn, Charlotte Observer

Pouncing quickly to defuse an indecency showdown with Congress, Time Warner Cable and other industry giants said Monday they'll offer a "family friendly" tier to subscribers as early as spring.

Free of sex, raunchy language and gory fare that drives adult viewing to some leading cable networks, the tier would offer an undetermined number of wholesome cable channels. They'd likely be in the pricey digital spectrums.

Network lineups and pricing are still being determined, said Keith Cocozza, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable, which has 11 million subscribers nationally and more than 390,000 in the Charlotte area.

"They want to be able to select a tier service where they don't have to monitor content or institute controls of their own," said Cocozza.

"We've found how we can handle it technically and we're looking at what programming would make sense."

The move comes only two weeks after FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, an N.C. Republican who took over the agency in March, said letting subscribers pick channels on an a la carte basis could be in consumers' best interests and economically feasible.

Cable executives balked, saying it would be cost prohibitive and strangle weaker networks financially.

"I have been urging the cable and satellite industry to give parents additional tools to help them address the increasing amount of coarse programming on television," Martin said Monday. "Offering a family-friendly package has always been one of the options I supported."

But the family-tier option did not satisfy the foremost critic of bawdy programming, the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council.

"The cable networks are now suggesting family tiers as a `solution' for consumers who don't want to fund raunchy cable programming that they are currently forced to subsidize," said L. Brent Bozell, PTC president.

"It doesn't let families decide for themselves what a `family friendly' tier is," said Dan Isett, director of governmental affairs for the PTC. Cartoon Network, for example, would be considered by many to meet the standard.

"But it does `Adult Swim' in the evenings, cartoons aimed at adults," Isett said.

The family tier option was announced at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Monday by Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which represents most of the nation's cable operators and more than 200 cable networks.

McSlarrow said the tiers would be made available, probably to digital customers, by six cable providers: Comcast Corp., the nation's largest, No. 2 Time Warner, Advance/Newhouse Communications, Insight Communications, Bresnan Communications and Midcontinent Communications.

He said he hoped the move would ease regulatory concerns and head off demands for measures like a federally required a la carte option.

"I really hope that we can take mandates off the table," he said. "If the government intrudes into this space, it will get it wrong."

While cable providers offer controls allowing parents to block certain shows and channels, they are not widely used or considered effective.

Jack Valenti, who pioneered the ubiquitous "G," "PG" and "R" ratings while president of the Motion Picture Association of America, testified at Monday's hearing and urged Congress to let the cable business itself deal with curbing unwanted programs.

He said he has been working with industry leaders to revise the TV ratings system to make it easier to use.

Determining what channels would be offered on family tiers is expected to take weeks because of the complex nature of cable contracts and obligations to carry less-popular sister networks of leading channels.

Who's Wholesome?

The cable industry is planning to offer a bundle of channels on a "family tier" but must sort out contractual obligations before deciding. Among the channels widely considered most family-friendly on local cable are:

• Disney Channel.

• ABC Family Channel.

• Nickelodeon.

• Discovery Kids.

• Inspirational Life.

• INSP, The New Inspirational Network.

• Noggin.

• Nicktoons.

• HBO Family.

• Toon Disney.

[dkennedy]

Time Warner Spells Out Family Tier

December 15, 2005

By R. Thomas Umstead, Multichannel News

Time Warner Cable Thursday became the first cable company to define its new family-friendly tier, featuring 15 channels, including Time Warner Inc.-owned CNN Headline News.

The “Family Choice” tier, to be rolled out across its service area in the first quarter of 2006, will cost consumers $12.99 above the cost for the MSO’s broadcast-basic service tier.

It will include kids’ services Boomerang, Discovery Kids, Disney Channel, Toon Disney and Nick Games & Sports. The other services are The Science Channel, DIY Network, Fit TV, Food Network, Home & Garden Television, La Familia, The Weather Channel, C-SPAN-2, C-SPAN 3 and Headline News.

Broadcast basic costs an average of $12 per month, a company spokesman said. A digital set-top costs $7.95 per month. All of the channels are currently distributed on Time Warner Cable systems.

National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow told a Senate committee Monday that Comcast Corp., Time Warner and other MSOs serving about 50% of all cable subscribers will offer a Family Choice tier, probably in the first quarter of next year, as their response to concerns about indecent content across the cable dial.

“Our customers have always had the tools to actively exclude any channel or program they might find objectionable for their families,” Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Glenn Britt said in a press release. “This new family tier will offer our customers yet another way to obtain kid-friendly programs without the need for them to take an active role in monitoring shows and deciding on which ones to proactively block from their TV set.”

[dkennedy]

Kids look at things differently...I gave my kids the list that TW calls the Family tier and I asked them to tell me whats missing...here they are:

CARTOON NETWORK
ABC FAMILY
HISTORY CHANNEL
LEARNING CHANNEL
TRAVEL CHANNEL
ANIMAL PLANET
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES
TV LAND
GOLF CHANNEL
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
HALLMARK

Apparently it's cool to follow Tiger Woods on the Golf Channel...they enjoy the classic monster movies of the past on Turner Classic Movies... my son says he has to have his Leave It To Beaver episodes on TV Land...my daughter comments that she can't live without National Geographic and the Animal Channel...and for homework they need the Science Channel...apparently there teacher assigns shows to watch...same with the History channel...they all complained that where is NASA TV? and my wife stated...How can they not include Hallmark?

[hurnik]

hehe.

I was debating about cartoon network (due to the adult swim stuff, although that's on late at night) and TLC is very good, but sometimes a little "graphic" if you will

But then again, I'm all for parents being involved too. Of course, when I grew up we lived in North Dakota and my father refused to get cable, so we had a whole 3 channels:

PBS, NBC, and CBS

Ooh, ahh

About 3 years before we moved, we got ABC.

haha

[ebo]

I think the concept of the Family Tier is doomed to failure regardless of the channels chosen for it. Perhaps I misunderstand how it would work. Is it expected that those who buy that tier would not want other tiers as well? And if they do buy other tiers, how do they expect that having the Family Tier will prevent their children from watching the other channels?

A quick show of hands: How many people want to limit themselves to "family" programming guaranteed not to offend anyone? I don't mean to limit their children or anyone else, I mean to limit themselves. Anyone? Anyone? There might be a few here and there, but they're rare. So most won't be satisfied with just family-friendly programs.

I'd welcome a-la-carte subscriptions, which family-tier advocates also favor, but the cable companies are right when they argue that it will save their customers little or no money, because they don't want to offer programs that way (and really can't because of their agreements with the channels' providers) and they control the prices.

The real answer lies in telling parents that they need to accept some responsibility for controlling their children's viewing habits and that they already have the tools they need (V-Chip and similar controls). Most televisions, and all digital ones, have such controls. They just need to learn to use them. If they can't be bothered, they shouldn't complain that it's someone else's responsibility (and if they can't figure it out, they can always ask their children).

With universal V-Chip, which we will have after the switch to digital, there should be no restrictions on what may be broadcast (even OTA) as long as it carries a suitable rating. That won't prevent the unexpected happening during live programs. But even that can be addressed by adding a new rating of "Live" which can be locked out by parents who don't want their children exposed to half-time shows, nightly news or Presidential press conferences.

[zekmoe]

I'd be offended to have to pay for the INSP, The New Inspirational Network channel. It's as destructive as any porn or violence channel in my opinion. And if I were Jewish, Muslim or whatever, I'd really question my contribution to such programming.