Cable Puts You in Control: Cable Industry Launches Consumer Education Initiative

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The cable industry today announced a comprehensive new consumer outreach campaign designed to increase awareness about tools and resources cable provides so that families can control programming that comes into their homes and make educated and responsible decisions about television viewing.    

The multimedia initiative – a response to calls for more information about television viewing choices from FCC Chairman Michael Powell, key Members of Congress, and many American television viewers – is titled Cable Puts You in Control.  It reflects the cable industry’s commitment to provide American families a wide variety of programming choices, technology that enables customers to block channels or programs they find unsuitable for family viewing, and resources on media literacy to help families better understand the entertainment and information they receive through media today.

Robert Sachs , President and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications (NCTA), detailed the initiative in letters today to FCC Chairman Powell and Congressional leaders including chairman and ranking members U.S. Representatives Barton, Dingell, Upton and Markey, and U.S. Senators McCain, Hollings and Burns; and other members of the U.S. House and Senate Commerce Committees. (Copy of Powell Letter attached)

“The cable industry takes seriously your challenge and its responsibility to help protect children from indecent and unnecessarily violent TV programming,” Sachs wrote.  “We believe these steps will help cable customers identify the wide array of programming options from which their families can choose and the many tools available to help them be responsible television viewers.”

Elements of Cable Puts You in Control include:

         Website

A new website will be fully operational by April 1.  It will be devoted to empowering parents and caregivers to better supervise family television viewing by providing them with information about how to manage their family’s television and media use.  Created and maintained by Cable in the Classroom (CIC), the cable industry’s education foundation, the site will serve as a clearinghouse for information about responsible viewing, including:

  • A description of cable technology that allows viewers to block channels
  • Viewing tips for parents and caregivers
  • A sample description of the children’s and family programming available on cable
  • Media literacy information and resources, and contact information for organizations that promote and provide educational tools for it
  • Other cable industry resources related to managing television viewing

         Public Service Announcements

A series of public service announcements (PSAs) are in development to educate parents about the tools available to help them manage and control the programming that comes into their homes.  Produced by industry-based companies, these PSAs will encourage subscribers to call their local cable operator or to visit the initiative’s website for more information. 

NCTA anticipates completion and distribution of the PSAs by early April and will make them widely available to cable operators and cable networks.  Many cable networks and cable systems (see attached list) have committed to airing these or similar PSAs in a variety of dayparts, including prime time, and the PSAs also will be posted to the initiative’s web site. 

         Customer Communication Materials

A portion of the effort to broaden awareness of cable’s parental control tools will include direct communication with the approximately 70 million customers who subscribe to basic and digital cable services.  A variety of "template" customer communication materials – including bill stuffers, pamphlets, employee training materials and scripts for various communication channels – will be developed in a Cable Puts You in Control toolkit and provided to the NCTA member operating companies that serve approximately 90 percent of all U.S. cable households. 

         Media Literacy Workshops: MediaWise Families Roadshow

Cable in the Classroom and the National PTA will conduct a series of free workshops around the country for parents which will address concerns about the exposure of children to inappropriate content on television. PTA members and local cable com pany representatives will help parents learn about the TV ratings system, the V-chip, and the various channel-blocking devices available from their local cable com pany.  In addition, parents will learn how media literacy skills can help their children be com e critical and discerning viewers, questioning the messages and values in a TV program, commercial or material found online. 

In addition, Cable in the Classroom and National PTA will release in April a new report providing guidance and ideas to help parents of children ages 2-11 select and use media with their families in developmentally appropriate ways.  The report will be distributed free of charge through the PTA and CIC websites as well as by individual PTA chapters and local cable companies. 

“The cable industry shares your desire to ensure that cable customers are better informed about the high-quality educational and entertainment programming available to children and families, as well as the options they have to control programming they think is unsuitable for their families,” Sachs wrote to Commissioner Powell and Members of Congress.  “We believe that the action plan outlined herein will go a long way toward achieving these goals.”

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Companies Committing to Air Cable PSAs (as of 3/2/04)

Cable Operators

Adelphia Communications
Advance/Newhouse Communications
Bresnan Communications
Cable ONE
Cablevision Systems
Charter Communications
Comcast Corporation
Cox Communications
Eagle Communications
Gans Multimedia
Insight Communications
Mediacom Communications
Midcontinent Communications
Millennium Digital Media
Sjoberg’s, Inc.
Susquehanna Communications
Time Warner Cable

Cable Networks

A&E Network
AMC
Animal Planet
BET
Biography Channel
Cartoon Network
CMT
CNN
CNN Headline News
Comedy Central
Court TV
Discovery Channel
Discovery Health Channel
DIY (Do-It-Yourself Network)
Fine Living
Food Network
Fox Movie Channel
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports World
Fuel
FX
GSN (Game Show Network)
History Channel
History Channel International
Home & Garden Television
Lifetime Television
MTV
National Geographic Channel
Nickelodeon
Ovation
Speed Channel
Sí TV
Spike TV
Sportsman Channel
TBS
TCM
Tennis Channel
TLC
TNT
Travel Channel
TV Guide Channel
TV Land
Turner South
VH1
WE: Women’s Entertainment
Weather Channel