Paratrooper wrote:
Because cable television networks rely on subscribers rather than advertisers for their income and are subject to less stringent censorship, they are able to offer programs with more explicit sexual content than their broadcast counterparts. This provides cable networks with an unfair competitive advantage over broadcast networks, which should be eliminated by the Federal Communications Commission.
Knowledge of which of the following would be LEAST useful in evaluating the argument made in the passage above?
(A) The extent of the public demand for shows with explicit sexual content
(B) The difference between the censorship exerted on cable and broadcast networks
(C) The nature of the FCC’s regulations, if any, regarding competition between networks
(D) The amount of programming on cable networks with explicit sexual content
(E) The extent of the influence exerted by advertisers on the contents of television programming
A vs. D
IMO: A
A: Important, because there is a need to know if the demand for sexual content is great enough such that cable will have an unfair advantage
B: Important, as there is a need to know if the extent of "less stringent censorship" is big enough such that the difference in sexual content between cable and broadcast is significant
C: IMO, least important. The argument is evaluating what the FCC should do base on the situation (unfair advantage of cable over broadcast. Whether the FCC has the regulations is another matter.
D: Important because if cable has little or no programs with sexual content, there will be no advantage
E: Important, if advertisers have little influence on the contents of television programming, then there is no difference inn sexual content on cable vs broadcast
I choose C. What is the OA btw?
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