Kent Bernhardt: Ultimately, it's about choices

“Adult Channels Part of Fibrant Lineup”

As soon as I saw the headline, I knew my day was about to get interesting.

Almost immediately, I nosedived straight to the bottom of the online article to check the comments from the peanut gallery. They didn’t disappoint.

“Is this a good thing for Salisbury? I don’t think so”, read the first one.

“The city doesn’t need to hustle porn,” read another.

In the minds of some, Lord Salisbury has apparently backed a truckload of porn up to your front door and is about to unload.

Salisbury, for better or worse, is now in the TV business. And as soon as they started formulating a channel lineup, they had to know this controversy was coming. In announcing that the new Fibrant TV offerings will include adult programming, the city has entered a sensitive area.

Desiring to remain “competitive” and not wishing to brandish the censorship sword, they will make the channels available to you if you want them.

It almost sounds like the right thing to do.

That is until you remember that Fibrant is a little different. It’s a venture born and bred right here, given life by our city leaders and funded by what could be our tax dollars if this thing goes south. This is our home, and we can and should be a little picky about what goes on in our home.

If you come in to my home, you won’t find any ash trays. I’m not against smokers. I just don’t offer you the opportunity to do it in my home.

If you call my radio show and start using salty language, I might ask you to tone it down a little or even cut you off. Am I against freedom of speech? No, but this is my home, my radio show. I get to make the rules here. Want to swear? Get your own show.

Chick-fil-A isn’t open on Sundays. Why? Because they chose not to be. They got to make the rules there.

My point? The city seems to define being competitive as “doing everything the other guys do.” I say that sometimes, being competitive is daring to be a little different.

They could’ve chosen to stand out as a slightly more family-oriented alternative, and the public may have actually applauded that move.

They could’ve simply not offered the channels, and when a few complaints came in, they could’ve manned up and stated that they simply decided not to offer that package on Fibrant. A large church-going community may have flocked to Fibrant for that reason alone.

Censorship? Nope. Those channels are still available right here in your hometown on other systems if you want them.

Now, Fibrant is just like the other guys. Is that competitive?

I’m not unsympathetic to the city’s decision. I think some our leaders anguished over this and simply decided to leave the choice in the hands of the individual.

There’s sound reasoning in that approach too. Just don’t call it “being competitive.”

When it comes to TV programming, you’ll never please everyone. The same crowd that will applaud you for eliminating the porn channels will still blast you for carrying MTV and shows on the regular networks that make the Playboy Channel look like an old Disney movie.

Perhaps we should all remember that ultimately, we are the gateway to what we allow or don’t allow in our own homes.

It’s all about choices, and if you don’t like the one Fibrant made, you can always “choose” another provider.

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Kent Bernhardt lives in Salisbury and can be heard on WSTP’s morning show, along with Howard Platt.