FCC Call For Comments on a la Carte Cable

The Importance of writes "A couple of weeks ago, Slashdot readers commented on the possibility of a la carte cable pricing. Now the FCC is officially seeking comments [PDF] on the issue. One commentator thinks bundling between content producers and the cable companies is more important than bundling between cable company and consumer."

Comments

But...

[I_Love_Pocky!]

what happens to crap networks like QVC and HSN? Is anyone going to pay for 24 hour a day shopping channels? Are these going to be given away for free?

Re:But...

[eht]

No one is going to pay for them, but cable companies are paid to carry them, enabling them to have lower rates overall. So under a la carta programming, you would get a discount for choosing to have them, of course everyone would sign up for them and just block them, at which point they figure it out and start charging you to carry them, no one chooses to do so and your cable bill goes up a couple of dollars.

I'm not saying it's a "Good thing", but bundling isn't as evil as you thought it was.

That's supply and demand at work.

[JeffHunt]

Pure capitalism. If I want to sell something to you that you don't want, should you feel bad? Nope.

Re:Disappearing channels

[Planesdragon]

Basically if you have the option of only picking the stations you want to watch, many good networks are going to disappear because people dont routinely watch them, and only watch them when they have specials on.

You misunderstand. It's not going to be what stations you watch, but rather what stations you pay for.

If i were to ask you to list all the channels you would pay for, would you forget one that you like but only occasionally watch?

Not if I can get flags for TV shows, actors, wrtiers, and production houses.

"SciFi, The History Channel, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, a news channel or two, and the channels that show Enterprise, Smallville, and whatever Joss Whedon does next" should be a valid choice.

If the FCC is doing this...

[cft_128]

If the FCC is doing this I have a hard time believing the average consumer is not going to get screwed by this. I somehow think we'll see higher prices and smaller boutique channels will go offline.

This isn't new.

[ezraekman]

Ala Carte cable pricing has been around for years, at least in California. There was one of those fun "within ten years" laws that required cable companies to allow subscribers to purchase any single channel separately from the standard lineup. Of course, it didn't specify prices... so naturally, the cable companies have no reason to price it reasonably. (Most individual channels were between $10-15.) I don't recall the particular bill/mandate in question, but I remember bothering Comcast about it, just for fun. :-)

I care about MONOPOLY, not bundling

[Bob_Robertson]

Too bad the FCC isn't going to address the tightest "bundling" of all, the grants of monopoly that cable providers get from their state/locality.

If they had any interest in "anti-competitive" practices, this would be the FIRST thing to go.

Once done, you could pick the provider that gives you the channels you want, or bundles, or even carries 24 hour Home Shopping and nothing else.

Personally, it's not which regulation I object to, it is the fact of regulation to which I object. I no more want to regulate other peoples business than I want to be regulated myself. I guess that's why I'm not rich.

Bob-