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BET Chief: A la Carte Endangers Cable Diversity

Black Entertainment Television Chairman Debra Lee is opposed to any move by regulators to force cable operators to offer "a la carte" packages, saying that "destroys the diversity of cable" and "really flies in the face of the business model." And it is already an industry facing problems as viewers -- and programming -- migrate to new platforms.

"Last year was the first year you really saw a shift away from TV, and the story is that it's going to digital. We're beginning to see more of that," she says. Advertisers are struggling to figure out how to adapt to that shift. Lee also notes that her net's basic cable penetration is "fairly well saturated" in the U.S., except for a few small pockets, "maybe in Idaho, but we are working on those."

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