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Indecent programming aired by TV stations and PEG (public, educational and government) channels is beyond the cable system's editorial control. Under the same 1992 Cable Act, cable systems must carry, and subscribers must purchase, local TV stations and public-access channels in the basic tier at the same time they purchase a family tier from Comcast Corp. To some extent, cable is facing a similar problem. The lineup so far includes just one public-interest channel, RFD-TV, which provides farm reports, ranching programs and some religious fare for its rural-American target audience.įSTV was excluded because "we want to offer consumers a family package, a safe haven," EchoStar general counsel and executive vice president David Moskowitz said. When EchoStar unveiled its 40-channel family tier two weeks ago, it disclosed the names of 31 channels to be carried, leaving the rest blank. Stout added that he attempts to air that kind of programming at late-night times when most kids are in bed. "I would say it does occur from time to time," said general manager Jon Stout of FSTV, which is based in Boulder, Colo. On occasion, FSTV programming includes male and female nudity and the “F-word” unbleeped. Another show, Prison Lullabies, is about "four women struggling with drug addiction" who were "pregnant at the time of their arrest and have all given birth behind bars." The FCC was required to establish the DBS set-aside program under section 25 of the Cable Consumer Projection and Competition Act of 1992.Ĭatering to the political left on social, political and environmental issues, 10-year-old FSTV has a primetime schedule that includes such hour-long programs as Gay USA, Dyke TV and Behind Every Terrorist - There Is a Bush. FCC rules do not address whether family tiers can exclude channels like FSTV with programming that would be deemed indecent under FCC rules that apply to local TV stations. The programming covered by the FCC’s rules must be offered to all satellite subscribers at no additional charge and without any editorial interference from the satellite provider. Many heeded his call, including EchoStar.īut here’s Martin’s predicament: FSTV has a carriage deal with EchoStar pursuant to FCC rules adopted in 1998 that require direct-broadcast satellite carriers to create channel space "for noncommercial programming of an educational or informational nature." Martin, the Republican chief of the nation’s main regulator of video programming, just finished pushing cable- and satellite-television companies to launch packages of channels that exclude profanity, sex and violence.
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launches its “Dish Family” tier without the edgy fare of Free Speech TV. Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin might need to bring the matter to a head next month after EchoStar Communications Corp.
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