WASHINGTON -- Trying to preserve their electronic pulpits, the nation's religious broadcasters find themselves in the unusual position of fighting an effort by anti-indecency groups to thwart channels offering racy programming.

The issue involves a debate over whether cable companies should continue offering subscribers mainstream and niche channels in bundles, or let them buy what they want on an "a la carte" basis.

Consumer groups are pushing to let people choose their channels rather than pay for ones they don't watch. One Federal Communications Commission study showed people on average regularly watch only 17 of the more than 100 cable channels they typically receive.

But what started largely as a consumer issue has now morphed into a larger controversy involving whether cable operators should be required to continue exposing subscribers to niche channels, including religious ones, that people might not order on their own.

"We don't just want to preach to the choir; we want to reach the unchurched," said Paul Crouch Jr. of the Trinity Broadcast Network in Santa Ana, Calif. "The bottom line is that we want to be everywhere on cable."

The controversy came to a head Tuesday, when media executives, televangelists, government regulators and consumer activists gathered for an "Open Forum on Decency" held by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups have seized on the a la carte system as a way to give cable TV subscribers more flexibility to drop channels with adult fare, citing such programs as the plastic surgery drama "Nip/Tuck" on FX that regularly features sex and gore.

"A la carte is a solution that will immediately address the issue of indecency on cable," said Tim Winters, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council.

The debate has created unusual bedfellows: religious broadcaster who want to keep getting their messages out, and free-speech advocates fearful that the unbundling of cable channels is being used by anti-indecency advocates as a tool against provocative shows. It also pits televangelists against their usual allies in trying to clean up language and sex on TV and radio.

Christian broadcasters, including Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, fear that changing the current systems will cut into viewership.

To preserve viewership, big religious broadcasters such as Trinity, which owns 33 TV stations, and Daystar, operator of stations in San Francisco and 44 other U.S. cities, are pushing the government to expand regulations requiring that cable operators "must carry" local, over-the-air channels such as theirs.

That has put them at odds with other religious programmers who don't own TV stations, such as INSP and the Gospel Music Channel. They fear that their shows will be crowded out on the dial by channels cable operators have to carry.

Cable TV has emerged as a major indecency battleground. Because programs aren't transmitted into homes over the public airwaves, operators are exempt from regulations involving sex and language. They also are shielded from the pressures of the FCC, which exercises clout over broadcasters by regulating station licenses.

Nonetheless, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin has urged cable operators to voluntarily rein in racy shows, or risk having Congress do it. Indeed, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is seeking support for a bill that would force the cable industry to offer a "family friendly" tier of programming.

But cable companies and major media companies have been fighting any government efforts to regulate programming.

"It's not fair to handicap us with these requirements because we want to be free to give consumers what the marketplace wants," said David Grabert, a spokesman for cable operator Cox Communications Inc.

Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp., seeking FCC approval of their $17.6 billion acquisition of ailing cable company Adelphia Communications Corp., are balking at the government's indecency concerns.

Nonetheless, the FCC will seek public comment this month on a proposal that would require the cable industry to offer a la carte programming.