List Of Cable TV Subscriber Fees Shows What You Pay For Channels You Hate

Ala Carte is the way to go

I totally agree.

There are so many outdated laws pertaining to media ownership, distribution and subscriber costs. I think of it this way, 'for a provider (your cable or satellite) to get Disney to you, the provider has to buy ESPN from Disney as well. The provider then passes those costs onto subscribers, even if they only wanted Disney not EPSN.'

A La Carte doesn't come from the production companies (e.g. Disney) to our providers like Cable or Satellite. Our providers - even if they wanted to provide A La Carte - can't because of they way they purchase content. That needs to be addressed.

We also have to focus on the FCC and their own internal thinking - A La Carte programming is considered harmful from the perspective of small stations. The thought process goes like this, 'by providing packages (not a la carte), providers can carry some of the smaller channels who can't operate without a subsidy as they get picked up in the package both purchased and offered.' So when you look at your basic plan and see some of those shopping or cooking channels, some of those are part of the smaller stations that get subsidized and add to your bill and might not exist if they didn't have this subsidy.

Cable TV is on the downside, newer TV's are offering wirless and will be able to connect to the internet without a computer, which will allow for more programming to go to the internet, allowing for people to subscribe to an A La Carte style of programing.

I in-vision a system in which you use a service to organize your channels on an internet site allowing you to jump channels freely, without jumping around the internet. I would imagine too that local stations will remain over the air, but newer TV's will incorporate multiple signals without switching from inputs, for easier surfing.

This is one of the reasons that Comcast purchased NBC, they see the future changing for them. It should be very interesting how this plays out in the near future.

Also, companies like Dell are offering smaller media type computers(the Zino), which will play a role in this as well.

One other thing, this will play well for TV stations and advertisers, because they will do away with the DVR, and take away the ability to fast forward through commercials. They will be able to customize advertisement for the viewer.

For anyone who despises their forcefed programming (i.e., bundles) but has realized one star Yelp reviews unfortunately does not create an alternative... I've created a site dedicated to returning transparency and competition to the cable industry. http://tvalacarte.org/

@Ryan Comcast has an illustrious history of purchasing content in order to sabotage their (limited) competition. For example, they bought the Versus channel and then purportedly attempted to jack up the rate up to 50% in subsequent negotiations over carriage fees. Ultimately, DirecTV balked and ended up losing their passionate hockey fans. Comcast is now in the process of acquiring 30% of Hulu... but if this is the major crutch for cable cutters, do you think Comcast will invest heavily in this technology?

At TValacarte.org you can read more about the relevant issues, take the poll of which channels you'd pick in an a la carte environment, and sign the petition. Most importantly, our movement relies on using social media as the "slingshot" to take on the Big Cable goliath.