A bill to be introduced in the House of Representatives Thursday would force cable operators to provide subscribers with more options in selecting programming lineups, reports
Multichannel
News. Under its terms, a cable company would be required to either obey federal broadcast-indecency rules on basic and expanded-basic tiers and allow consumers to strip channels from tiers, or
create a "family" programming tier as defined by politicians. All pay TV providers, including DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, would be required to comply. The bill's two sponsors are Rep. Dan
Lipinski (D-Ill.), who got his job representing a Chicago-area district when party bosses appointed him after his father resigned with a primary win, and Tom Osborne (R-Neb.). This could be one of
Osborne's last pieces of legislation: He gave up his seat to run for governor of the Cornhusker State, only to get beaten in a primary earlier this year. The decency duo will unveil the "Family Choice
Act" at a press conference joined by media scolds, including the Parents Television Council, Consumers Union, and Concerned Women for America.
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