ESPN: WE PAID TOO MUCH FOR MONDAY NITE FOOTBALL, NOW EVERYBODY PAY UP

[TheBigA]

This is why there will be no ala carte system. Ever. And that applies to satellite radio too. How many SiriusXM subscribers listen to all 100 music channels? But they pay for them. A portion only want Howard Stern. Too bad. They pay the same price as everyone else.

 

[mnradiofan]

Lower rated Cable channels like G4 would go away in a la carte system.

So would everybody else, starting with ESPN. They charge the big bucks because they pay the big bucks to the leagues/conferences for game rights.

If a la carte were to begin tomorrow and only the 10% or so of cable/satellite viewers that watch ESPN were to pay, they'd be bankrupt in a year. Unless ESPN charged $50 per month to make up the difference.

We are between a rock and a hard place, and the providers (both at the local cable co level and the national network level) know this. The reason we don't have more competition is because of regulations and expense. But, we could have 10,000 programming providers and it wouldn't matter if companies like ESPN were allowed to do what they do today. A network like ESPN today has much more power, because in addition to demanding the high pay, they can DEMAND to be put in the "basic" tier of programming. You don't think Comcast would LOVE to charge more for ESPN or Fox Sports? Alternatively, you don't think that Comcast would love to charge everyone else LESS to make themselves more attractive than Dish or Direct TV? Sure, it would look less attractive to the sports junkies, but I know there is a market for people who only watch local sports, and to be able to charge them less every month would make Cable look like a better entertainment value.

As it exists today, an Ala Carte system would ABSOLUTELY cause channels to charge more or go out of business, at least in the short term. In the long term, to keep people happy, program quality would decline due to the desire to lower costs. This would happen for two reasons:

1. With less people paying for the channels, more money would have to be collected from each remaining subscriber
2. With a smaller distribution, most channels wouldn't be able to charge the ad rates they do today, and most new programming wouldn't have the same chance to get "out of the gate" because you'd have a lot less channel flipping.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Bible thumping channels also don't want an a la carte system.

That, right there, has just made me an advocate of the a la carte system!!! ;D

In order to get Insp, you have to get the same package as Logo.

 

[EricStein]

Bible thumping channels also don't want an a la carte system.

That, right there, has just made me an advocate of the a la carte system!!! ;D

In order to get Insp, you have to get the same package as Logo.

I suspect the industry would create a package that will have Current bundled with Fox News!

I thought I read somewhere that the NRB (lobbyist group for Christian TV) was for a-la-carte video, since people who want Christian channels but not FX, Comedy Central, etc. can just choose TBN, Daystar, INSP, GMC, etc. However, they already have Sky Angel IPTV to serve that niche.