Adelphia: Carlsbad subscribers won't get XXX-rated moves

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 9, 2005 11:30 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- A company spokesman said Wednesday that Adelphia Communications Corp. will not be releasing sexually graphic, XXX-rated movies to Carlsbad this month, if ever. Early this month, Adelphia officials were quoted in a Los Angeles Times article saying that the new programming ---- the nation's first XXX-rated programming offered by a major cable provider ---- could be available starting Feb. 4 across its Southern California region.

Adelphia's West Coast spokesman, Bob Gold, said Wednesday that those comments were premature, saying the programming is only available on a trial basis to a "very small" number of subscribers in the Los Angeles area.

"A wide rollout (of the programming) ... would not happen until later this year, if at all," he said, adding that the controversy that followed the company's earlier announcement was a "tempest in a teapot."

Among those steaming over the initial programming announcement was Carlsbad City Councilman Mark Packard. At the end of Tuesday's council meeting, he urged viewers to call the cable company, federal regulators and their Congress members to complain.

Wednesday afternoon, when Packard heard that the programming wouldn't be available any time soon in Carlsbad, he declared, "Good," and encouraged residents to keep pressure on the company.

"I still think that pornography is an evil that we need to fight, but I'm glad to hear it's not being offered in Carlsbad," he said.

Gold said Adelphia has offered adult-oriented programming in Carlsbad since 2003. The Playboy channel and pay-per-view programming rated X or XX are available to the city's cable subscribers. Program ratings vary depending on the camera angles and the sexual nature of the images shown.

This month's pay-by-the-movie programming in Carlsbad includes a bachelor party-themed romp called "Stag: Real Naked Stress." There's also "X-Mates: Volume 1," which features footage of women competing in extreme sporting events in "various stages of undress," according to the Web site.

Packard said he didn't know Adelphia was offering those shows. He said that the news "surprises and disappoints me."

The city's attorney has said there is little Carlsbad can do to stop the company from offering X or even XXX-rated shows; the Federal Communications Commission has sole authority for regulating the cable industry.

A spokeswoman with the federal agency said Wednesday that there's little anyone can do, even the federal government, because of free-speech protections under the First Amendment.

The federal commission regulates sexual content on "broadcast" TV and radio ---- programs anyone can get with a TV or a radio set. Because people pay for cable, the federal broadcast indecency standards don't apply to the cable industry, FCC spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher said.

It's up to the cable companies to decide what they want to sell, she said.

Once considered the most conservative of the nation's big cable TV providers, Adelphia recently has been exploring new money-making efforts as a way to solve its financial woes. The company has been in bankruptcy for more than two years.

Adelphia, which has about 5.3 million subscribers nationally, is looking at two ways of emerging from its bankruptcy troubles. The two options are selling the business or restructuring the operation, said Erica Stull, the company's external communication's director.

Prospective buyers had until Jan. 31 to submit bids and company leaders are now reviewing those offers, she said.

It's been widely reported that Comcast Corp. and Time Warner submitted a joint bid worth about $15 billion, far less than the $17.5 billion purchase price Adelphia's creditors want.

Stull said the company will not comment on the bidding results.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.

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