[mythtv-users] The Death of MythTV in the US?

[Michael T. Dean]

On 03/31/2008 01:39 PM, Joe Votour wrote:
> Quoting Wes Hardaker <wjhns176 at hardakers.net>:
>> "KK" == Kevin Kuphal <kkuphal at gmail.com> writes:
>> KK> My cable subscription is $14/mo and get 12 stations, 10 of which are also
>> KK> delivered to me via unencrypted QAM.
>>
>> I'm in your boat.  There are a few other channels I'd like to get
>> (Comedy Central being the highest on the list).  I'm constantly amazed
>> that there is a jump from like $14/mo to some ungodly price like
>> $50-75/mo.  You'd think companies would do a better job offering
>> something in the middle ground.  Please please please give me
>> per-channel subscription a-la-carte selection.
>>
>> I've thought about switching to OTA and dropping my minimal cable bill
>> (which would require an up front antenna bill).  But half the stuff we
>> watch is on one of those channels that we don't get OTA: the discovery
>> channel.  It's another one of those channels I'd probably pay for a-la-carte.
> It's partly the fault of the cable operators, but more the fault of  
> the content providers which is why we don't have a-la-carte, and  
> likely won't unless some government agency with a spine enforces it.   
> But it will have a cost unless you can force the content providers to  
> stop bundling.
>
> If you as a cable operator want to carry ESPN, then ABC will make you  
> carry ABC Family as well (as an example)., and pay for it.  When  
> a-la-carte comes, and you want ESPN, but not ABC Family, then the  
> cable company will charge you the price for both, since they have to  
> make up those fees somehow.  (I'm figuring that many, many more people  
> want ESPN than ABC Family).
>
> So, a-la-carte might bring an even larger cable bill, depending on  
> which channels you want to watch.

And, in truth, a-la-carte could mean the death of many channels (would
that really be so bad?) because of the disparity between the number of
people wanting ESPN and ABC Family.  Since packages force people to pay
for channels they otherwise wouldn't choose to buy, the "package-based"
pricing allows low-interest channels to be subsidized by popular
channels.  Some in the government feel that it's important to allow this
package pricing to preserve the artistic value of things like The
Quilting Channel, The Paint Drying Channel, and The Grass Growing
Channel.  It will be interesting to see what happens if the government
does force rebroadcasters to provide a-la-carte selection.

If nothing else, the vast number of stories about a-la-carte pricing on
the Internet--and the wildly differing opinions in them--indicates that
it's a topic about which people tend to have extremely strong
feelings--me excluded, though, as I do OTA only.  Some interesting
perspectives:

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9782645-7.html
http://www.researchrecap.com/index.php/2008/03/28/a-la-carte-cable-tv-pricing-would-bring-economic-ruin/
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/13/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_fortune/index.htm
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2007/11/26/consumers-should-be-able-to-choose-their-tv-channels

Mike