All in the Family

Sometimes there’s an advantage to letting someone else go 1st. When Time Warner Cable released its family tier, the only people who commented on it bashed it (PTC’s Brent Bozell and Corduroy Crew’s Gene Kimmelman). But last week Comcast lined up Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition to voice support for its tier before Bozell even saw the release. "Today’s announcement is a welcome response to the concerns of families," Falwell said. Meanwhile, Colby May called Comcast’s tier "a welcome and important step in the right direction." — The Specifics: Comcast’s 16-channel family tier will debut early in ’06, costing $14.95/mo, plus $4.25/mo for a digital set-top. Subs must order a basic tier with mainly broadcast stations to get the family tier, meaning the avg family will pay $31.20/mo for the tier. Subs who opt for the family tier will not be allowed to buy other tiers, but they can subscribe to premium channels. All nets on the family tier also are on expanded basic or digital basic. The nets include 3 from Scripps (HGTV, Food, DIY) and 2 each from Disney (Disney Channel, Toon Disney), Viacom (Nick/Nick Too, Nick GAS), Discovery (Discovery Kids and Science) and C-SPAN (C-SPAN and C-SPAN2). Others are PBS Kids Sprout, Headline News, Weather, National Geographic and TBN.