Canada Mandates A-la-Carte for Pay TV!

[The Boston Dangler]

the distributors and operators will max out the fuckery on this, and point to it as an example of why a la carte doesn't work and we should just surrender.

 

[sandorski]

Man, I can't even remember the last time I watched a hockey game.

KT

Hockey is the only thing I have watched on TV for a few years now. I'm this <..> close to cancelling my TV and just buying the NHL Centre Ice package and streaming it Online.

 

[CZroe]

It's all in the pricing. As long as they are still able to sell 300 channels for $80, then they'll just make sure that $25 + a few a-la-carte channels will be more expensive. It's exactly what they do if you want Internet without television: the cost of Internet goes UP and the savings become insignificant.

 

[Ichinisan]

You know Viacom will bull some bullshit with the bundles. Stuff like: You must get Nickelodeon/MTV to get Comedy Central.

 

[spacelord]

If I could save $2 / month by not having ESPN.. then take those channels away.

 

[Imp]

Some "analyst" said this would be an excuse for Telco to jack up internet prices.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

The market is far from a free market; it's more like a game that's rigged. I disagree that people are going to end up paying just as much for fewer stations. Currently, subscribers are paying for A,B,C,...,Z, with each of those entities not receiving the same amount of money, but money nonetheless. Once some of those stations go off the air, and if those remaining stations still received the same amount of money, then the average subscriber is paying for A,B,C,D,..., Q. The money for R,S,T,...,Z no longer needs to come out of consumer's pockets, because those stations will cease to exist.

The money will no longer NEED to come out of the consumers profits, but it's going to come out anyway. Just rather than being paid out as carriage fees it will go to profit and bonuses. The providers know what the market is willing to pay and they're going to repackage the channels in a way that gets everyone to pay near the same for fewer channels. The a la carte thing is all smoke and mirrors. A few people with very specific needs will wind up paying less, but the typical customer that wants a wider selection of the popular channels will end up with their bill looking the same.

 

[Blanky]

I like it the american way. Leave it up to capitalism and enterprise. If the people want it, it will happen! Ignore the fact that everyone wants it and it hasn't happened. Capitalism is the solution to all!

what about the "small bundles", though? Those are actually already around. I hope they defined that because the US already has, as does Canada, "small bundles" for everything.

I actually don't much care about a la cart anymore. Streaming is carpet bombing the fuck out of the conventional tv industry and we're seeing options coming online very quickly. They didn't give it to us, so we just went to the internet. I get as much stuff as I can watch now with hulu and netflix. Hulu is actually quite darn good; it's got virtually all new shows and is a total steal at $8/month.

 

[KeithTalent]

The money will no longer NEED to come out of the consumers profits, but it's going to come out anyway. Just rather than being paid out as carriage fees it will go to profit and bonuses. The providers know what the market is willing to pay and they're going to repackage the channels in a way that gets everyone to pay near the same for fewer channels. The a la carte thing is all smoke and mirrors. A few people with very specific needs will wind up paying less, but the typical customer that wants a wider selection of the popular channels will end up with their bill looking the same.

No doubt. I do wonder how it will work for me though. I petty much only watch sports, HBO, and the food network. I have a bunch of other networks because of the way things are bundled, so I am hoping this will help me out.

KT