Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007 - Public Reception

Public Reception

On June 14, 2007, United States Representatives Dan Lipinski and Jeff Fortenberry introduced the Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007. The PTC praised their effort, citing several adult-oriented cable programs soon to be on the air such as the fourth season Rescue Me beginning on FX, The Sopranos airing on A&E Network, and Comedy Central's "Dirty Dozen" block of its hit animated comedy series South Park, where the network would air the most profane, vulgar episodes of the series, including "The Death Camp of Tolerance" and "It Hits the Fan".

PTC Director of Government Affairs Dan Isett, who lobbies the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the PTC's behalf, testified that cable choice can still benefit cable programs, citing the series finale of HBO's The Sopranos that was the most-watched show on cable television on the week of its initial broadcast even though HBO was a "premium" cable network available only to subscribers who ordered it in addition to their standard cable packages. Also present during the news conference to celebrate the introduction of the bill were representatives from Concerned Women for America and Consumers Union. Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt supports this bill.

The part of the bill intending to apply the FCC's broadcast indecency standards to cable television - under the bill, no television station, regardless of broadcast or cable, may air indecent content during the day - has been questioned, given that parental controls including the V-Chip are readily available to most parents. Religious televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have also opposed the concept of cable choice from the very beginning because they felt that viewership for their cable programs would decline.