The FCC thinks cable and satellite companies should be pressured to offer ala carte purchases of cable networks rather than forcing customers to buy broad packages of channels.
Consumer choice is a good thing, but apart from the simple economics that make this idea unworkable (CourtTV estimates I”d have to pay them $5 a month in an ala carte world? No thanks), it”s an idea rooted in a world that is quickly fading away.
Who gives a damn about a “network” anymore? Back in the days before remote controls, 40+ channels and on-screen programming guides, people might have parked their set on one channel and just watched what was on, but does anybody today really watch “[insert network name] TV” just because they like the network?
Maybe that”s the case for chicks who dig Lifetime or granola types who like Outdoor Life Network, but personally, I care exactly not at all about what network a program comes on. It”s like how I don”t care, and often don”t know, what time a show comes on since the DVR handles all the tuning and recording for me.
In The Wisdom household, we tend to watch a bunch of stuff from A&E (Mythbusters, Flip This House, The First 48, Airline, etc.), but I don”t watch any single show because it”s on A&E. I simply want to watch shows that I like.
The model for the future will be pay-per-view programs, not pay-per-subscribe networks. If I could pay a couple of bucks for a season pass of Mythbusters, that might be be worth something to me. Of course, I”d still want to have corporate America underwriting the cost by buying commercials I don”t watch … but that”s another story.
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