Hispanic Federation, Latino Clergy Question Martin’s Cable Proposals

HISPANIC FEDERATION QUESTIONS FCC'S CABLE 70/70 FINDINGS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Hispanic Federation Friday called the Federal Communications Commission's finding that cable had reached market power sufficient to justify regulation a last-ditch effort by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to push through a la carte, multicast must-carry and leased-access rate cuts. Chairman Martin has argued that all of those would benefit minorities, but the federation said that they instead "could undermine Hispanic-owned networks on cable by depriving them of the economic model that supports them, as well as drying up limited channel space by instead handing it to throw-away channels like home shopping networks and 24-hour weather monitoring."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6503732.html?rssid=193

LATINO CLERGY WON'T BLESS MARTIN'S PROPOSALS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which claims to represent 16,000 churches in 32 states, says that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's plans for a la carte cable pricing and lowering leased-access rates will "limit the number of TV channels available for networks owned by minorities." "Increasing minority-owned media outlets should be the FCC's top priority," said coalition president Rev. Miguel Rivera. "Instead, this chairman has proven, time and time again, that his interests lie elsewhere. Chairman Martin's obsession with decimating minority cable-station ownership through a la carte pricing laws has been followed by a series of attempts to practically give away cable-channel capacity to home shopping networks and other entities rather than making it available to emerging Hispanic-owned networks."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6501936.html?rssid=193