A trade group representing independent film producers, including the makers of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, has asked the Federal Communications Commission to enact reforms that would effectively reserve 25 percent of prime time TV for independent companies.

The consortium says that without help from the Commission they will be shut out of prime time television.

"As a result of the unfettered development of massive media conglomerates, there are clear barriers today that prevent a fair, level, robust and truly diverse marketplace for television and cable/satellite programming," the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) wrote to the FCC in a statement filed on May 9th:

"Independent programmers have no leverage against the immense market power they face from the networks, and cable and satellite system operators."

IFTA includes production outfits such as Lakeshore International, LIONSGATE, and The Weinstein Company. The groups' member companies have released hits like "Million Dollar Baby," "Wedding Crashers," and "Bend It Like Beckham."

The Alliance has asked the FCC to bar the four major TV networks from scheduling more than 75% of their prime time lineups with shows produced by the networks themselves, or by affiliated companies, or by entities affiliated with the top ten national cable companies, or by direct broadcast satellite operators.

"This would leave 25% of prime time programming available to be filled by literally hundreds of independent program producers and distributors," IFTA argues, "thus creating a vibrant and competitive market for prime time television programming."

The group's statement blasted the quality of current prime time TV, charging that the inordinate amount of prime time programming owned by the networks has discouraged competition and encouraged reliance on relatively inexpensive reality TV shows.

"Conglomerates rarely produce prime-time programming that challenge their viewers," the statement observes. "The current prime-time lineup demonstrates that the shrunken pool of captive producers are most likely to imitate each other's programming, however awful it may be."

The IFTA analysis, based on a paper written by consumer advocate Mark Cooper, says that the networks now own over 75 percent of all prime time programming, way up from 15 percent in 1995. The filing attributes some of the blame for this on the FCC's decision to drop its Financial Interest and Syndication Rules ("fyn/syn" in FCC lingo) for the networks.

These restrictions set limits on much financial stake networks can have in programming that they air.

"In this new world of media behemoths," IFTA writes, "creativity and diversity of programming are sacrificed to the bottom line; fresh and engaging dramatic and comedic productions stand no chance of being purchased from outside producers when the buyer can produce internally another repackaged version of the same old low budget reality and game shows."

The IFTA statement also recommends that as new digital TV channels begin to "multicast," that is, split their signal into more than one stream, 25% of the programming be effectively reserved for companies not connected to the four major networks, their affiliates, or top cable and satellite distributors.