TVSquad

Didn't we already do this awhile ago? I distinctly remember all the heathens that frequent this site discarding ESPN like it was some filthy, smelly, undergarment :)

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if you study it from an economica point of view you'll see al la carte is a bad idea for many reasons. 1)it would need al americans to upgrade and change their cable systems for compatible boxes, remotes and tv's at a considerable costs, either per family, or in higher usage taxes 2)many of the cable channels only exist based on subsidies of their larger channels which fall under the same corporate umbrellas. many small channels which have niche groups, special interests etc., would fail. and if you study it you will find that the average american wil have to pay the same amount for fewer channels that he is now for more channels. thats because smaller ones which are being sunsidized would need to raise their fees in al a carte. so please study this before blogging it.

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I wouldn't. ala carte risks killing creativity.

Sure you've got your run of awkward and disliked programming, but there's little incentive to create new original channels if you're going to fight for viewers on a subscriber by subscriber basis.

Take your picks for example. What if the Tennis Channel saw a decline in viewership to the point to where they only had 1,000 subscribers a month. Does a 1,000 subscriber a month income sound profitable? Even at $10 a month? It wouldn't be sustainable for hundreds of channels. We can all kid about the demise of PAX, Daystar, or TBN as a result of stuff like this, but it puts way too many people out of work.

You're also falling into the same trap that he puts out in his own article. Your choices are unique to your tastes. If we had to go through this today, we'd lose channels that have unique and challenging programming in favor of channels that show stuff that would appeal to the masses. If you're a thinking person, it cuts off your choices considerably. Bravo, Discovery, USA, SciFi, all of them would run the risk of losing their creative content to appeal more to baser interests in the face of declining viewership. We all don't want to have to put Gilbert Godfried back on USA again to host Bikini Car Wash Company 4.

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I think the only way ala carte would work to make it financially viable to have niche networks is to package them by parent company to consumers the same way they do to the cable companies now. But I dont know if that solves any of the problems people have with the current system. Don't like Bravo? Then no USA. Don't want FoxNews, then no FX or local fox sports channel. Fine, you dont want to pay for MTV? You dont get Nickelodeon or Comedy Central.

Parent cable companies (Viacom, NBCU, Fox) know there is money to be made in diverse programing and also in targeted advertising with niche channels and will force these channels on to consumers by charging higher prices for the channels you want and then giving the others to you for "free". Or at least they probably will.

And then who the hell knows how this would affect Turner and Comcast with their network ownership. Dont want to pay for OLN? Too bad, you have to if you want Comcast cable. Well, not explicitly, but it will "come free," which just means the cost is hidden somewhere else.

I guess I dont see this in reality actually offering THAT much more choice.

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I think a la carte would give people without neilsen boxes more power, and that's a good thing.

I wouldn't even mind just more flexible packages. I mean, the packages they give you now aren't much of a choice.

Want: All of the major networks, CNN, Cartoon Network, Sci Fi Channel, FX, MTV Hits, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike TV, Food Network, plus any international channels that show Japanese programming, as I don't get any of them now. Oh, and BBC America. I don't get that either.

Calgon, take me away: We, Oxygen, FOX News, MTV, MTV2, TV Land, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic

Might want at Olympics time: CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, Telemundo

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I wouldn't want Fox News either - Keep the blinders on, that's my mentality. :) It's a joke!! I get my fake news from CBS!

Lets see, from my capitalist point of view...

In: HBO, ESPN, Starz, VH1 Classic, F/X, CNBC (though looking forward to Fox Busines channel), Fox News, CNN, CNN Headline News, TNT and A&E (only for the Sopranos reruns this fall).

Out: Showtime, Bravo, MTV... Pretty much anything owned by Viacom.

I'm sure glad NewsCorp bought us last year instead of Viacom. :)

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Sign me up for all the shopping channels fist thing! I won't watch them, but since they pay for carriage, they subsidize the costs of other programming. At least that way I'll have a lower bill than everyone who doesn't take them.

Really, I don't want anything to do with the whole process. There are a bunch of channels I never watch, but I just take them out of the channel lineup on the Tivo and it's like they were never there anyway. Ala carte pricing just means that we'll have to pay much more for the most popular channels.

Besides, what will I channel surf on those nights when nothing else is on?

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Uh, the broadcast networks don't count. Unless the ala carte implementation would mean the end of the must-carry rule.

#2 dvddesign has some excellent points that I never considered.

I know Bozell, Dobson, and co. have been lobbying hard for this, but whatever happened to skipping the channels you don't want to watch or blocking the channels with the parental controls, if the channels are so offensive?

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If I could choose a la carte channels, it would be the following:

TBS
ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
WGN
XSP
Family
TNT
Cartoon
Weather
CNN
Headline News
MSNBC
CNBC
ESPN
FSD
MTV Hits
VH1
VH1 Classic
Comedy Central
E!
OLN
USA
Discovery
Animal Planet
TCM
Huistory
A&E
G4
PBS
ESPN 2
ESPNNEWS
ESPN Classic
BRAVO
HBO
Starz
Showtime
Encore
Cinemax
Biopgraphy
History-International
Game Show Network
TV Land
Tennis Channel
NFL Network
SCi-Fi
BBC America
F/X
..and others that I can't think of.

Of course, if a la carte this many channels was more expensive than a cable package, I'll take the cable package.

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