All or nothing

Business | The cable industry balks at calls for à la carte pricing | Mark Bergin

An inquisitive little girl and her monkey companion navigate the occupational world of grown-ups in a recent episode of Dora the Explorer on Nickelodeon. Dora and Boots try out various jobs, guiding young viewers through the work environment of a pilot, a chef, and an archaeologist. Such kid-friendly content on a number of cable television stations render basic cable subscriptions attractive for many parents.

But several remote clicks away, cable networks such as MTV and FX serve an entirely different market, regularly offering shows with suggestive sexual content, gritty violence, or profanity. Cable television is not subject to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decency standards.