A la carte pricing urged for cable TV

washingtontimes.com ^ | Nov. 29, 2005 at 1:59PM

[april15Bendovr]

A la carte pricing urged for cable TV Nov. 29, 2005 at 1:59PM Federal regulators are calling on the cable TV industry to let viewers pay for only the channels they want to watch.      

Currently, viewers' only choice of cable TV channels bundled packages, the Wall Street Journal noted.

      A Federal Communications Commission report says the industry should let viewers choose and pay for individual channels, which the regulatory body says will ultimately save consumers money.  

     "This report will conclude that a la carte could be in the best interest of consumers," an FCC official told the Journal. The report also suggests "themed tiers" of channels, the official said.

      The FCC cannot force the cable industry to change the way it does business, the Journal noted.  

     The industry claims a la carte programming would raise costs and ultimately reduce the number of networks offered.

[kkalman]

Coming soon to a city near you: usdtv.com
It just arrived in Dallas. You get all the local channels
and about a dozen cables. No CNN but FOX yes.

[rattrap]

Yes please, I DON'T want my MTV.

[april15Bendovr]

That sounds like a good package.

[LWalk18]

Coming soon to a city near you: usdtv.com It just arrived in Dallas. You get all the local channels and about a dozen cables. No CNN but FOX yes.

And the Lifetime Movie Network- LOL.

[april15Bendovr]

I used to like MTV before it went to Pathetic Dysfunctional Foul-Mouthed Poetic Diarrhea RAP music

[april15Bendovr]

I though Lifetime television was Hillary Clinton feminist I hate men network?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Currently, viewers' only choice of cable TV channels bundled packages, the Wall Street Journal noted.

Which means that if I want the Military and other Discovery Channels, I have to buy an overpriced package that is full of junk channels that I don't want. I'm not paying an extra 30 bucks to get another 30 channels, 5 of which I will actually watch.

It seems to me that Discovery would have a basis for a formal complaint to the FCC, the logic being that people are passing up their channels because they're bundled in with package deals that a lot of people don't want. Therefore, the current market is hurting their ratings.

[Sans-Culotte]

A la carte was what I loved about my old C-Band satellite dish. I only ordered what I wanted, and it was cheap. If I could do that with my mini dish, I'd add channels while deleting some. As it is now, I have my favorites and my wife's favorites set up, and we ignore 80% of the programming.

[Hildy]

fifteen years ago I worked for the CAB: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau....they'll never let this happen. Believe me.

[april15Bendovr]

Problem we have is our area doesn't have DSL yet and we are getting a package with cable through comcast.

I have heard good things and bad things about satellite dish TV.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I'd rather pay $50 a month for the half dozen channels that I really want instead of paying literally over $70 to get those same channels plus the 75 garbage channels that are bundled in.

In my area, Comcast only offers Military and the Discovery Channels with their most expensive packages. It's either pay their $72.49 a month Silver plan or you're getting none of it.

[R. Scott]

Federal regulators are calling on the cable TV industry to let viewers pay for only the channels they want to watch.

How many people would pay to have all the shopping and infomercial channels? I would end up with around a dozen channels – not the couple hundred I currently have.

[Big Red Clay]

You are exactly right, Hildy. I worked in marketing for one of the big cable companies up until '98. It is very unlikely that this will happen, at least not in a way that is beneficial for subscribers. Not unless those subscribers want to pay fifty or sixty bucks a month for 10 or 15 channels. One thing that may compare to this is if they do an on demand/pay per view type thing for individual shows. I beleive that monthly bills would end up being higher but at least you could watch what you want when you want it. I use DVR for this function now. I watch the stuff that I have recorded at night when I have some time to sit down. That way I am not sitting and watching some crap that I am not interested in when I actually have the time to do it.

[R. Scott]

I remember when the Music Television Channel actually had music. I watched it back then.

[mewzilla]

Cable industry won't do it.

They will if it's shoved down their throats :)

[AT7Saluki]

Some dialog needs to be had about the rates the programmers charge the cablecos. If ESPN wants $15 a subscriber now, who gets to pay that then?

[John Will]

THis is long overdue. I only watch History Channel, Discovery
and Comedy Central as well as Cartoon network. 20 a month for those channels looks good.

I do have the fastest internet option avabile though from charter- You can't win it all.

[mad puppy]

I can understand being frustrated with dish/cable and the extreme $$$ they charge, but, do we REALLY want the US gov't urging businesses to alter the way they do business? I'm curious what happens if the cable/dish companies tell them to kiss their a$$. Does the gov't just shrug their shoulders and walk away, or FORCE the issue?

Just unplug the damn thing. I've been waiting for 20 years for a 'package' that makes sense to me and so far, the only thing I'm paying for is the DSL so I can get to the Internet. Every time the wife & kids and I travel we get "hotel TV" and watch Monster Garage and the History Channel which gets us in trouble because we end up being late to stuff. We'd be a mess if that stuff was pumped into the house 24-7.

[mewzilla]

Some dialog needs to be had about the rates the programmers charge the cablecos. If ESPN wants $15 a subscriber now, who gets to pay that then?

Leave it to the market. The price will come down to something affordable for the masses. We might even get better progamming out of this.

[calrighty]

I will be glad to help you shove!!