PASS THE TELEVISION CONSUMER FREEDOM ACT 23MAI13

I don't know anyone who is happy with or approves of their TV provider. I have never heard anyone speak well of them and the "service" they provide. But Sen McCain R AZ has introduced a bill, The Television Consumer Freedom Act, to encourage TV providers to give us TV a la carte! For everyone who bitches about your TV package from your provider, here is a chance to tell your Senators to support this bill and get it passed through Congress. Click the link...

Tired of paying for crappy reality shows like America's Worst Tattoos? Too bad. Right now there's nothing you can do about it. We Need the Freedom to Choose Our Cable Channels. If you want cable channels that carry, say, Major League Baseball games, you have to purchase a cable package that also includes channels like Fuel TV, the low-rated network that features motocross and surfing coverage, and Chiller TV, the channel that's "scary good." Maybe you like motocross, surfing and scary movies. Other people like Lifetime, HBO or VH1 Classic. Yet despite their individual preferences, cable subscribers are forced to buy hundreds of channels in a cable “bundle” to get the few channels they actually want. Does this make any sense? Not to us. Thankfully Sen. John McCain has introduced the Television Consumer Freedom Act,1 a bill that would allow us to pay for cable channels individually, giving us more control over what we choose to buy and watch. Forced bundling is a symptom of our dysfunctional, competition-free cable system in which content providers (ESPN, Fox News, HBO) collude with cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner Cable) to push us into paying for hundreds of channels we don’t want — and to keep our cable and broadband bills climbing higher and higher. Sen. McCain’s bill wouldn’t outlaw bundling. But it would provide incentives for cable companies to offer an “a la carte” option in which consumers would pay only for the channels they want. Save Some Money: Tell Your Senators to Support This Pro-Consumer Bill. As we discussed in our new report,2 our cable bills continue to skyrocket. Since the 2008 recession, the price of expanded basic cable service has increased at three times the rate of inflation. Consumers have complained about this situation for years. And now we can do something about it. Tell Your Senators to Support the Television Consumer Freedom Act. Thanks, Josh, Derek, Amy and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team www.freepress.net P.S. You can count on the Free Press Action Fund to fight for consumer protections. We don't take money from business, government or political parties and rely on the generosity of people like you to fuel our work. Please consider donating $10 today. Thank you! 1. "Senator McCain Releases New 'a La Carte' Cable Bill," May 9, 2013. http://act.freepress.net/go/14580?t=8&akid=4256.9767049.E1-COE 2. S. Derek Turner, "Combating the Cable Cabal: How to Fix America's Broken Video Market," May 2013.http://act.freepress.net/go/14581?t=10&akid=4256.9767049.E1-COE

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