Comments on: Cable subscribers sue for 'a la carte' TV options

New lawsuit wants a court to order that cable, satellite and media companies allow subscribers to pick channels individually--an idea they have fiercely resisted in the past.

[autuumn]

About time

I think that this action has been coming for a long time and I for one am grateful! I don't believe the cable companies saying that a new model would really raises costs, they would simply force new costs on to the consumer. When this action gets to trial, I hope that the costs associated with A La Carte gets regulated...we should pay less overall, not more!

[teags39]

Contact your cable subscriber?

I don't know who your cable provider is, but my cable provider is not receptive to questions about their pricing policy. Nor can you even get someone on the phone to discuss their prices. Try to call Time Warner in NYC and ask them WHY they do not offer A la carte packages or WHY their packages are so expensive.

[kingsnoofer]

Inactivist?

If your current company is not forthcoming then move to another provider if you are not satisfied. If you can't get the answers you are entitled to as a customer then maybe you need to go over their heads. Talk to their governing body. Write letters. Activist stuff. If you don't do anything then you don't get to complain.

[tecknowone]

Dish Network Pricing

In order to get the few channels I like to watch like BBS, History, Sci-Fi, Biography and a few others I have to subscrobe to the 250 channel subscription package. Of the 250 channels about 150 of them are Sirius and cd music channel channels. I don't listen to them. I don't know anyone who does. There are also about 25-30 shopping channels. So I would rather pay a la carte for the channels I watch. Even if it is the same. I do not like the shoving of all these music channels up my wazoo that I don't want or need. There has to be a cost involved with it. They surely take up much needed bandwidth on the satellite that can be used for HD content or other better use content. So when you take out all the music channels I am paying $70 a month for about 45 channels of content. About $1.50 per channel per month. Bring on a la carte.

[gddeluca]

I've got a la carte (sort of) - you can't win

Viewpoint from a Canadian here. I've got digital cable and have a la carte (sort of). Here you must get the basic service level 1st (about $30/mo) and can then buy 'lumps' of a la carte in tiers. 1 channel - $2.50, 5 for $7, 10 - $10, 15 - $13 etc.
Doesn't really help much over the bundles they offer and you can't select the premium networks (Movies, sports etc.)
Result? They say you've got a la carte, but its all just marketing mumbo-jumbo and you'll end up paying just about the same as before.

[darthduke]

A La Carte Would Be Cheaper If...

the cable and sattelite companies wanted it to be. They are just like the oil companies: so set in their ways that they don't want to admit that it's time to change. The excuses they offer in the article are typical of large organizations that have been around a long time and are used to dictating what the customer gets instead of paying attention to what they actually want. It shouldn't have to come to law suits or legislation to get these companies to wake up and realize that the customers they serve are now used to the internet where you can look at almost anything you want for one flat access fee. Why can't that work for TV? It's past time, now that high speed internet bandwidths can handle it, that TV finally merge with the internet. The WebTV (aka MSNTV) box has been around for years and it brings the internet to any TV you hook it up to. Then there are things like TiVO that let people with schedules that don't corrispond to their favourite shows to record them on a hard drive and skip the rest of the junk. Then there are sites like You Tube and Flikr that are trying to get TV-like content on the web. If the media conglomerates who run TV stations would put their considerable resources towards the goal of having TV-like programming on demand or a la cart on the internet which was accessible through exsisting cable, phone and dish infastructure, it would be a reality in less than five years. We are getting a taste of it already from companies and individuals outside the "mainstream". It's time the mainstream got with the flow.

I don't even subscribe to cable or satellite myself because I don't feel I watch enough hours of TV to justify paying for it, especially for channels I skip past when I do watch at hotels or relatives' homes. I have rabbit ears that I watch the networks on occasionally. If I really want to see something with a clear picture, I go to a sports bar for a game or to my relatives' house for other TV shows, like the American Bingo Night which is fun to watch with friends and family.

If there was such a thing as a la carte, I'd probably subscribe to it, especially if I could bundle it with my cable interet access (how hard would that be really). Of the current channels, the only ones I'd want would be Sci Fi, Espn, Discover, History Channel and maybe one or two local network channels for local programming.

[lynjs]

It is way about time; but watch Congress cave

Since 1987 or so, we've had cable. At that time we had only basic for $16 per month. A couple of years later, I added HBO to view a concert. I kept it. My bill at that time went to about $22 to $25 per month. I have not added anything since. I now pay $66 per month for the same basic package and HBO. Then add in that different sections of town are priced differently. Can we say rip off?

They need to let us consumers choose what we want. I don't look at the Speed Channel, CMT or country music channel. I don't look at the Outdoor Channel. I don't look at Univision because I don't speak fluent Spanish. They have interesting shows on, but I can't interpret what they're saying. My mother rarely looks at TBN or Triinity Broadcasting. Animal Planet is so-so. I don't feel the need to be eating and flip the channel and a disgusting critter is there spoiling my dinner. I would prefer viewing the NFL, NBA and Boomerang and TV-One Networks instead. But I'm stuck with drivel.

Congress, however, will cave to big business and let them have their way and do us, the consumers, in one more time.