Cable operators considering "a la carte" channel service

Shawn Knight

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Staff member

Cable operators are said to be mulling over the idea of offering channels “a la carte” in an effort to combat increasing popularity from online video streaming providers and regain lost subscribers. Such a move would represent a massive shift in how providers have traditionally offered programming to customers, as reported by Reuters.

Consumers have been asking for such a model for as long as I can remember but providers had little reason to oblige. With no competition in the market in terms of alternate delivery methods, programmers were free to bundle channels together, forcing the customer to subscribe to channels they didn’t necessarily want in order to have access to a few that they were interested in.

But with new online delivery methods, higher programming production costs and a slow economy, cable operators may have to force programmers to unbundle networks and let customers subscribe only to the channels they are interested in. Comcast and Time Warner Cable collectively reported a loss of 1.2 million video customers in the last year ending on June 30.

"We feel that some of those expensive channels should be offered a la carte so only those people who want to watch them actually pay for them," said Jerry Kent, chief executive of Suddenlink, which has 1.3 million cable customers.

Allowing customers to opt out of certain channels in a package could save viewers a lot of money. For example, EPSN is the most expensive channel in the US at around $4 per subscriber. Customers not interested in sports could nix this and other ESPN channels from their lineup.

There’s no doubt that such a move would have a significant impact on major networks and they are likely to fight a shift.

Are you in favor of a la carte service, are you happy with your current bundle or have you washed your hands completely of traditional paid television programming?

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This is actually pretty big news if true. Being forced to pay for about 50 channels in languages I don't speak was a big factor in me getting rid of cable.
 
about freaking time...dump 150 of my 170 channels and adjust price accordingly!!!
 
I haven't had cable for a couple years now. I torrent heavily, have a netflix and hulu plus account. If the prices are reasonable I would definitely go for this. I miss ESPN and some of the more obscure science channels. Oh and HBO and Showtime! I would happily pay for those.
 
ZOMG

It only took the loss of millions of subscribers for this idea to finally be considered
Consumers have been asking for this since the birth of cable

There is nothing to mull over.
Evolve or die greedy cable companies
 
I have now been without cable for slightly more than a year. In this area, an antenna brings about 40 channels, some in HD and all at great quality. I miss Dexter, Nurse Jackie and certain others, but not enough to pay for even a basic cable package. If I could order á la carte, they would at least get _some_ business from me, as opposed to none!
 
This is funny bcuz i have more than 10 years without cable and suddenly my family make a contract with a company..they gave me my extension but for me its useless.... i dont use it...most of the channels are b u l l s h i t and i dont need the 99% of the channels...everything its on the internet...legaly or ilegaly so...who the f uk needs them? their technology sucks...in my country they reencode the analogic signal to make as a DVD resolution and the worst its that they use SD when everyone has HD tv......of course they rent you the DVR but its useless and fake HD so.....its useless they need to disssapear...besides where are the other channels of the rest of the world? only american s h i t
 
Well not to be a smart but ... I have Videotron in Canada and we have to get the basic channel(that i never watch) BUT i have a 15 chanel a la carte contract that i can edit online and after 24 boum the chanel is on my tv (you do have to keep the changes for 1 billing period)

there are some that are still bundle like SPEED channel is with 3 other channel that im totaly not interested in so i didnt take that extra
 
This is actually pretty big news if true. Being forced to pay for about 50 channels in languages I don't speak was a big factor in me getting rid of cable.

This. Most of what cable offers are waste channels and yet I pay for them.
 
I've (and most others) have been asking for this for years. Of course time will tell if this is for real and how long it lasts or what prices they charge.
 
Wow, could you imagine the havoc that an a la carte system would create? Cable systems have been throwing more and more junk together into "channels" to inflate their lineups and try to make customers feel like they are getting more, so they don't notice the screams their wallets are making every month. If you suddenly give consumers a choice, I would guess that about 80% of the channels out there today (that are not sports or premium movie networks) would fail due to lack of subscribers. How many people are going to actually choose to pay for channels like the game show networks, or "reality" tv networks that show constant repeats of stuff you could have seen elsewhere?

The cable lineup bloat would implode, and we'd end up back closer to the compact lineups that existed in cable's infancy. But then, of course, the customers would end up paying more and more for each individual channel to make up for the lost revenue...
 
Guest said:
about freaking time...dump 150 of my 170 channels and adjust price accordingly!!!
This is roughly where I stand (my spread of channels is a little different), though I will admit channel surfing HAS landed me some entertaining nights on channels I normally don't go to. Not too often mind you. :rolleyes:
 
this would make me so happy. I lost my favorite channel because fios bundled it with some movie package (even though it was a scifi channel?) I didnt want to pay x amount more, i already pay 150+ for the fios stuff. I'd love to get some awesome channels without having to pay for ones in languages i dont speak!
 
Vrmithrax said:
The cable lineup bloat would implode, and we'd end up back closer to the compact lineups that existed in cable's infancy. But then, of course, the customers would end up paying more and more for each individual channel to make up for the lost revenue...

Yes. Back to the time, for instance, when there was ONE Cable News Network. And when there was ONE Music Television channel.
 
I'm a bit weary of the back-and-forth political thing in this country. I want for ALL extremists to go away. I want my middle-America back NOW. I want to be able to go to a Denny's and know that I'm getting a great meal that doesn't have Alar on the Apples and that the plastic cups weren't manufactured in China. I want to know that the beef didn't come from Brazil, and that the oil that we once bought from Saudi Arabia and Canada has been replaced by solar power and wind generators.

I want to buy tools and computer parts that are manufactured in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. I want to own a bicycle that was built in California, using ONLY graphite and steel mined from American lands. I want my toothpaste free of radiator fluid, and my pills manufactured in Vermont.

I want to live in a country that is a land of plenty for all. I want to be able to walk down the street without being accosted ten-times daily by homeless people, ten feet away from morons wearing furs and fine leathers, sipping cocktails and reminiscing about the "good old days."

I want, in short, the 1950s -- with all of the poverty, racism, sexism, and agism erased -- with today's promise for the future and none of the ghosts of our past. Do I want the impossbile? Maybe. But I'll tell you this --

We all like TV. And if we can come together by obliterating its current state, then I'm ALL FOR IT. Because THAT, my friends, WILL bring us closer together as a nation.
 
Maybe this will prevent the owners of those crappy channels from creating new ones that are just as bad. They don't really care about the comsumer unless you've been suckered into paying them your hard earned money. I've been without cable or satellite for close to 3 years now and I don't miss it at all!

Even if the they do go 'a la carte', you can bet your bottom that they are going to figure out some way to rape you one way or the other.
 
milwaukeemike said:
SammyJames said:
Guest said:
GOODBYE "MSNBC" you wont be missed

T-Bagger.

I notice you didn't deny it, Sammy.

I don't deny that the Guest is a T-Bagger.

:)

I'm a strong Democrat, and I'm PROUD of it. Anybody who has paid any attention to my posts here and all over the web knows this too. I voted for Obama and will do so again. I believe in integration, Medicare, Social Security, and public works programs. I feel that FDR was the best president of the 20th Century, that Abraham Lincoln was the best of the 19th, and all others before Obama had too many other problems to qualify as "great" presidents.

Are you happy now?

And also -- George Washington did some things right -- and wrong. Owning slaves is never right, and is a huge mark against him in my view. Especially at a time when he was touting the "Age of Enlightenment." I don't think that enlightened people own slaves.
 
SammyJames said:
I'm a bit weary of the back-and-forth political thing in this country. I want for ALL extremists to go away. I want my middle-America back NOW.

I agree Sammy, but we won't see it again. Our system has some serious flaws. The current political strategy is 'Let the other party be in control for a while, because the easiest way to get elected is to let them screw up for a bit.' It's a sick irony... both groups fight for control, but it's far easier to sit on the side and criticize than to lead. I'd bet my job that if Obama gets elected again a republican will be elected in 2016..... well... if I still have a job. (I'm kidding, i'm kidding)

Anyway... back to cable...

A la Carte! GO! Do It!
 
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