11/29/2005

Should Government Regulate Cable/ Satellite Programs?

Due to the increasingly popular provocative television programs shown on satellite and cable, lawmakers are proposing more government regulation. Personally, I don’t feel that it’s the cable/satellite company’s responsibility to ensure what your family watches is suitable in accordance with your standards. To me the notions seem similar to the tobacco and alcohol industry. You have the choice to smoke and drink, don’t you have the choice of what you want to watch, or what you want your family to watch. I believe that the government already has to much control over communications in this country. The idea of providing 'al la carte' programming packages would be a reasonable solution which leaves the control in the hands of the company. Let's face it, the most provocative shows such as Nip/Tuck and Rome are hits among audiences and that’s avant-garde at its best.

1 comment:

Dr. Tufte said...

-1 on Morgan's comment for capitalization errors.

I think this is rather typical of the government - they're worried about this just at the point when people start using Tivo to be more selective about what they watch.

On the other hand, there's something goofed up with the media industry. I'm not remotely prudish, but I have a hard time figuring out why they make so many R rated movies even though the G and PG ones make more money. They pay lip service to this stuff being edgier, but I'm not sure why that makes it worthwhile to avoid profits.

Morgan: lighten up about tobacco. The scientific evidence that second-hand smoke is a problem is weak or non-existent.