FCC Changes Its Mind: A La Carte Programming Suddenly Cheaper
from the oh-really? dept
For years, there have been stories about whether or not cable TV providers should be forced to offer "a la carte" offerings, where people got to pick and choose all the channels they wanted, rather than having to choose between a few bundles that always include a ton of channels you have no interest in ever watching. However, when pressed about mandating an a la carte option, the FCC studied the issue and pointed out (probably quite accurately), that any a la carte offering would likely be prohibitively expensive for cable viewers. It would clearly drive up costs for the TV providers, who would have to create new systems for managing a huge number of programming permutations, rather than just a small number of bundles. It would also drive up the cost of acquiring content, since many networks only offer certain channels if the cable provider agrees to bundle it with a less "desirable" channel or two. All combined, it means that each channel in an a la carte bundle would likely be quite expensive, and most people would be better off just sticking with a bundle. Where this gets problematic is that if it's mandated, a good part of those costs still need to be dealt with by the providers -- even if very few people will opt for the (expensive) a la carte offerings. However, in the past year, it seems the FCC has changed its mind. It's expected to announce later today that the report it put out last year is just fine... except for that pesky little conclusion. Suddenly, they think mandating a la carte programming would be just dandy. While many people (myself included) would love to be able to pick channels on an a la carte basis, the likely expense probably wouldn't make it worthwhile.So, why the sudden change of heart by the FCC? The Reuters report doesn't say anything, but one possibility is new FCC head Kevin Martin -- who is also known for being a stringent supporter of cracking down on "indecency" (perhaps more than his predecessor). Back in March, we noted that the crackdown on indecency could reopen the debate about a la carte programming, as many of those who support cracking down on indecency believe that a la carte programming is a way to avoid the "bad" channels and just get the "good" ones. Perhaps that view is now getting more attention at the FCC. Of course, weren't we just saying that the concept of the "channel" is increasingly outdated?
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How a-la-carte do you want to be?
First of all I don't understand how you can think the concept of a channel is outdated, and still want to pick and choose which channel you want. Just like cable companies bundle channels together, channels themselves are just bundles of shows. If you want to watch the Sopranos you need to subscribe to HBO by getting one of the premium bundles. But what if you only want to watch the Sopranos, not the oodles of movies on HBO? Shouldn't you be able to do that without buying a $100 DVD box set? Video-on-Demand won't work because although you can use it to only play the Sopranos, no cable company will let you have it without subscribing to HBO proper.
Also, because channels are budles of shows, a-la-carte won't help the FCC indecency crackdown. There are a lot of kids-only channels, but almost all of the adult channels are pay-per-view only. HBO, while it has the uber-violent Sopranos and many R-rated movies, also has some very good kids programming, and you can't unbundle the two.
I really think the FCC would like to do away with the bundles so they could stop forcing cable companies to provide the cable access channels. Wayne's World-type shows are fun to watch at 2AM sometimes, but nobody would choose those channels on an a-la-carte basis. There are also a lot of extraneous channels that have popped up in the last few years (Food, DiscoveryTimes, NationalGeographic, BBC-America, etc...) that I would never watch regularly but do have an interesting program I find flipping through the channels sometimes. Thats really the beauty of cable tv: channel surfing and finding something great on that you didn't realize before. Its the same reason most lay computer users have some portal as their home page, not just a Google search; There's lots of great stuff on the Internet, but sometimes you don't know what to search for, you just want to browse.
The international channels would suffer as well. Most viewers of those are immigrants who like watching shows from their old country in their native language. But is the demand enough that cable companies would carry them outside of the major markets? The newer channels and the foreign channels may get dropped if no one opts-in to them. There is a reason ratings are measured in viewers, not subscribers. Cable will never be unbundled.
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Re: How a-la-carte do you want to be?
The "channel" idea will become obsolete when you watch by just going to the BCC News/Star Trek/Sex in the City/SF Giants site and clicking your mouse on the show. Obviously there's a lot of infrastructure that will have to first be built between then and now....but that is where it's going.
The fact is that the "Channel" idea was just a way to manage a bandwidth scarcity issue. The wired internet has far more bandwidth, more appropriately (for these applications) used.
This will help the minor offerings, not hurt them.
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Re: How a-la-carte do you want to be?
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MTS Communications
They do use a tier setup with different bundles of service but each bundle lets you pick X number of channel groups. The channel groups themselves typically only contain 4 channels max. That way you really have more control over the customization of your package.
The nice thing is that on top of this you can add on any channel you want out of a specific package, albeit for a premium.
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Re: MTS Communications
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Channels? We don't need no stinking channels
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WHat about religious channels you are forced to have included in you channel reportioire
Is ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY!
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a la carte
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Gators
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Gators
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Me
go bucks
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Gators
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cable by channel
I wouldn't mind a little less violence or a little more sensitivity for the sake of the kids, but those wack jobs on the right make it impossible for me to invite cable into my household.
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Choose you channels
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Choose your channels
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Cable Co hates A La Carte and is a monopoly!
or
__ channels that you want, $1.00 per channel = $__ a month
Of course the cable company is going to say it is more expensive. There are going to say "All the channels in the lineup * $1.00 per channel = $$$$ a month". Studies show people watch 20 channels max. No one is going to buy all the channels in the lineup. Are you really going to buy the infomercial, shopping, music, satellite radio, or religious channels if they were A La Carte? I doubt many people would. That is what scares the shit out of the Cable Co. They know no one would buy all that junk and it would eat into their profits. The profits they are willing to spend to lobby congress to ignore A La Carte.
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