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Could new cable regulations hurt Christian broadcasts? You bet

July 26, 2006 12:50 am

LYNCHBURG--The United States Senate is now considering legislation that seeks to place "a la carte" or per-channel charge regulations on subscription television providers. While it may sound like an attractive idea initially, a closer look reveals that any such regulations would have a devastating effect on religious and inspirational broadcasters.

The rise of religious broadcasting has arguably been the most important advance for the spread of Christianity since the publication of the Gutenberg Bible 500 years ago. With the emergence of cable, satellite, and digital technology, the ability to share the gospel over the airwaves has been revolutionized over the past quarter-century.

Early missionaries sailed the oceans, braved the elements, crossed continents, and climbed over dangerous mountain passes to visit villages from sub-Saharan Africa to the furthest regions of Asia. But in the last half-century, the ability of the church to reach the lost has been revolutionized by a new technology: television.

Today over 90 million American households and millions more worldwide can now hear the gospel through a religious broadcast directly into their home. It can truly be said that satellite and cable television have been second only to the Bible in the most powerful evangelistic tool in history.

I have seen this in my own ministry. In 1956, I founded a Baptist church in the small town of Lynchburg in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In 1957, I started the "Old Time Gospel Hour," a local broadcast that soon grew to a national broadcast. Through cable and broadcast outlets, it ultimately covered the U.S. and 76 nations.

Thanks to modern technology, my many ministries are now global in scope. Yet at this most promising moment, the very survival of religious broadcasting is threatened in the United States. A little-known federal regulation has been proposed to institute a per-channel charge on cable television (sometimes called "a la carte")--which threatens to purge Christian broadcasts from the vast majority of U.S. households.

Proponents of placing a per-channel charge on cable and satellite programming range from Naderite consumer groups to well-intentioned proponents of decency standards. They mistakenly believe that a federal mandate on per-channel charge would reduce cable costs to consumers and make television a better medium for their children.

On both counts, proponents of these regulations are incorrect.

First of all, under a federally mandated per-channel charge, cable costs are more likely to go up rather than down. An October 2003 report by the General Accounting Office states that a per-channel charge regulation could "result in higher per channel rates" and "cable rates could actually increase for some consumers." The GAO report also found that because increased license fees would be passed on to cable subscribers, monthly cable bills would not decline for most consumers.

As for making television more family-friendly, I agree wholeheartedly that we need tougher decency standards. But we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. In our zeal to protect our children from "Sex in the City," we should not adopt policies that would prevent millions from hearing the gospel.

The answer is more family-friendly programming and additional religious and family-oriented channels--the very niche networks that would be endangered by a federal a la carte mandate.

The Christian community enjoys a common charge that we call the Great Commission. In Matthew's Gospel, we are charged to "go and make disciples of all nations." For centuries, the challenges inherent in taking the Gospel to the ends of the Earth seemed almost insurmountable. How could it be done over such vast distances and over so many physical boundaries?

It has been through the genius of Americans in this great, free land who have created technologies such as satellite and cable that have brought the challenge of the Great Commission so much closer to reality.

How tragic it would be to endanger religious broadcasting in America because of a policy dictate from Washington. What a shame it would be for this great country to deny those seeking inspiration and redemption access to the Word of God.

And what a shame it would be if we denied a daily message of hope to those faithful whose physical infirmities keep them from leaving their homes.

I hope and pray that the bureaucrats and politicians in Washington are listening: Adopt higher decency standards. But protect the ability of cable and satellite broadcasters to share the message of God's love with as large an audience as possible.

JERRY FALWELL is a minister, founder of the "Old Time Gospel Hour," chancellor of Liberty University, and chairman of the Faith and Values Coalition.