BellSouth, AT&T Cut From The Same Cloth
BellSouth, AT&T Cut From The Same Cloth

Cablevision Steps Out Of Line, Says A La Carte Is Great

Say That Again

from the i-like-the-cafeteria dept

Thu, Dec 1st 2005 11:54am — Carlo Longino
The fallout of the FCC's decision to support a la carte cable TV pricing rolls on, with Cablevision ditching its cable-TV brethren and saying it loves the idea. We noted earlier in the week how AT&T's support of a la carte was a shrewd PR move, letting them kick their new cableco rivals without worrying they'd actually have to implement the plan, given the unlikelihood Congress will actually mandate it. So what's Cablevision's motivation? While the company has made some adept moves in broadband, it's tough to see this as much more than just posturing. Like with AT&T, if Cablevision really wanted to implement a la carte, it could just do it. AT&T blamed TV networks -- what's Cablevision's excuse, or when will it start offering a la carte service?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

6 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Botch, 1 Dec 2005 @ 12:03pm

    Actually, you can believe Cablevision

    As a former Cablevision employee, I know that Cablevision has for a long time been campaigning for a la carte channel selection.

    When cable television first came into being, service providers were mandated to carry and include all channels within (I think) a 50-mile radius. This was to insure that local news, public broadcast, and other such programs weren't tossed away in favor of more premium channels. The cable companies would have always much rather offered to the customer exactly what they want and price the premium stuff accordingly.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Andrew Strasser, 1 Dec 2005 @ 12:25pm

    Re: Actually, you can believe Cablevision

    This could be a good move for their business. It could also attract a select audience that prefers select shows. When the FCC attornies get done fighting it out it will certainly be interesing to see who wins and loses..

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    The Other Mike, 1 Dec 2005 @ 1:19pm

    Re: Actually, you can believe Cablevision

    I tend to agree with Botch. Cablevision likely wants to do a la carte programming. As was brought up here a few days back, they stand to make a ton more money for the same channels if they carry them on demand. I opted for a better package deal on my cable instead of an a la carte for two channels because the package was cheaper. Now if they could do away with packages...

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Trent, 1 Dec 2005 @ 3:10pm

    Cablevision and a la carte pricing

    Don't forget their big battle with MSG/Yankees not too long ago.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    haggie, 1 Dec 2005 @ 3:45pm

    No Subject Given

    I'll wager that if my local cable company goes to a la carte pricing, I'll pay more for the exact same channels I have today...

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Vele, 1 Dec 2005 @ 8:45pm

    A la carte makes sense

    As cable systems improve and move into iptv, a la carte is starting to make more sense. The whole argument behind bundling is that there's a marginal cost of offering multiple channels (products) to customers and thereby not capturing a larger market. Thus, bundling has been a great strategy for software and other products where there's a relatively fixed cost of providing individual software packages. However, with newer cable systems, the marginal cost of managing different channel packages for consumers goes to zero, thus making it profitable for cable companies to offer a la carte and thus stemming the tyde towards sattelite. Subscribers may stil end up paying in aggregate similar amounts, but now you have finer data on who watches what and you are essentially killing Nielsen's ratings. Given I watch only about 10-20 channels in total, I'd gladly do this until the channel concept slowly dies for on-demand content.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]


BellSouth, AT&T Cut From The Same Cloth
BellSouth, AT&T Cut From The Same Cloth
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.