Re: AT&T/Comcast rates

[Richard Chonak <rac@gabrielmass.com>]

Bob Nelson wrote:

> Still waiting
> for the day when we can go a la carte on cable TV.
> You want the ESPN channels, Comedy Central, A & E,
> and TV Land but NOT Lifetime, Discovery, or the
> shopping channels? You got it. Wouldn't it be nice if
> we could just get only the channels we want--and pay
> less. I'd rather pay slightly less to get the 30
> channels I would want than pay more and also get 20
> others I don't want/need...

I don't think that this is a realistic option yet.  

If the billing process could be more fully automated, as it is
for pay-per-view now, a-la-carte offerings might become more
practical.   Until then, it probably makes more sense
economically for the cable companies to give us a few package
options rather than a full a-la-carte offering. 

Ultimately, it could lead to a fully "measured service" in which
you pay for each channel for only as long as you're watching it,
and you'd better remember to turn the cable box off when you go
out.   Of course, there would be a full audit trail of your
every channel change.   Imagine the data mining possibilities!

The shopping channels might have to be an exception, because I
presume that they pay the cable operators; if so, dropping those
channels would mean you would have to pay a little more to
compensate, not less.

--RC


--
http://www.catholicartists.org/ 
http://catholiclight.blogspot.com/                    GnuPG keyID F9C6579F