Dobson vs. Robertson?

The move toward more "family friendly" cable subscription options could spark a fight among the media archbishops of the religious right.

I finally finished reading the December Washington Monthly this weekend, including Zachary Roth's proposal: "Viewer Discretion: Parents should be able to pay for Nickelodeon without having to pony up for MTV."

I like the idea in theory. More options for consumers is good, and it would be nice not to have to pay for all those cable channels I never watch. But in practice I don't know if it would be any less expensive than the current package deals:

Under an a la carte system, customers signing up for cable service would be offered — in addition to the standard package options — a list of individual channels, each sold separately. Subscriptions to most channels would likely cost around two dollars each. Customers could then select, and pay for, only the channels they wanted.

Right now, I'm paying $45/month for a package that includes about 70 channels. That includes a bunch of channels I often watch, a bunch I never watch, and several dozen that I might occasionally look at, but that I could easily live without. If I got to put together my own a la carte package for $2/channel, I would probably end up saving a tiny bit of money, but I'd end up with far fewer options getting there.

I can see why programmers don't like the idea. A la carte pricing clarifies certain questions. I like Bravo, for example — West Wing Mondays and Inside the Actor's Studio. But would I pay $24/year for Bravo? Hmmm.

Today we read that the cable industry is hoping to stave off the kind of radical a la carte pricing that Roth proposes: "'Family choice' coming to cable: Industry to offer packages with less sex, violence, foul language."

It's clearly a pre-emptive strike, or a weakened form of the virus meant as a kind of inoculation:

Under pressure from the government, the nation's two largest cable companies plan to offer packages of family friendly channels to give parents a new way to shield children from sex, bad language and violence.

Industry leader Comcast Corp., No. 2 Time Warner Cable and several other companies will start offering "family choice" tiers, most likely by spring, said Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the main cable trade group. …

The industry has come under increased scrutiny for raunchy programming, most recently from the head of the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Kevin Martin urged cable executives at an indecency forum last month to give parents more tools to help navigate the hundreds of channels available to consumers.

Without endorsing a specific solution, Martin offered several suggestions, including family friendly tiers and so-called "a la carte" pricing …

Most cable executives have dismissed the idea of a la carte pricing, saying it would drive up costs and lead to the demise of channels that can't attract enough advertising dollars.

McSlarrow said he hoped the industry's announcement would stave off federal intervention.

Here's the interesting question: How will the various institutions of the religious right weigh in on this issue?

Roth is confident that social conservatives will support the idea:

This could come down to a struggle between the socially conservative and business wings of the Republican Party. Over the past few years, an odd bed-fellows coalition of conservative Christian organizations and consumer advocates has lobbied to demand changes in the cable industry. … [FCC Chairman] Kevin Martin is a strong ally of the anti-indecency movement — Martin recently hired Peggy Nance, an anti-pornography activist and former board member of Concerned Women for America, as a special adviser on indecency issues.

I'm sure that many of the constituents of the religious right would like this idea. (It reminds me of the Simpsons episode in which Homer discovers that Ned Flanders' satellite TV gets 500 channels, but that Ned has blocked everything except for Davey & Goliath.)

But this issue has the potential to aggravate not just the split between the religious and corporate wings of the GOP, but the split between the cable TV and radio wings of the religious right. I can see this idea getting support from media moguls like James Dobson and Bev LaHaye, who have built their empires on the strength of radio. But for those like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, whose empires are built on television, a la carte pricing could be a threat to the bottom line.

Dobson vs. Robertson? Get the popcorn, here's a show worth watching.