LETTERS: MUST-CARRY STILL NEEDED

To the editor:

This is in response to your editorial April 8 concerning the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the must-carry rule.

I have a real problem with your premise that the must-carry rule is not good because it inhibits a local cable operator's ability to place popular programming on. That premise assumes there is competition that would make the cable operator want to meet its customer's needs.

For many communities, and Cape Girardeau is certainly one of them, there is no effective cable competition for the cable operator. Therefore, there is no market for us at present to push the cable operator to put on the channels that the consumers want. The record in Cape since the various cable acts have been enacted -- and certainly since the franchise agreement was renewed -- underscores that fact. For example, in the last couple of years we have seen an increase in our rates on a regular basis with no effective change in stations. There have been numerous changes in the lineup, most of them to the dissatisfaction of customers, not caused by the must-carry rule. I speak of the change of WGN being dropped from our system, even though a survey of customers would clearly show they wished it to be kept on. Customers of other TCI franchises were able to complain and get that back, but we were left with two other channels that were not providing what many wanted.

To the extent the editorial suggests a full and free market system would be the ideal solution as to what should be carried or not carried, I agree. Until the time that there are other operators who are willing to come into an area and compete with an existing franchise, the must-carry rule is the only effective means to ensure that consumers in an area are able to receive their local news.

While I don't ordinarily enjoy government regulation, I think this is one time where it does provide a service. I suggest the appropriate time to move for the must-carry rule to be dropped would be when we have this free market in play.

MICHAEL H. MAGUIRE

Cape Girardeau