give me a’ la carte or give me dish

December 15, 2005 by Mary Wynne-Wynter 

Its that time of year again..cable companies are raising rates.’ The issues:

Consumers:

  • most want to save money and have choice
  • many with families want, coming into their homes, programming that is free of sex, violence and rough language

Cable companies:

  • reject offering a’ la carte programming which upsets their traditional business model (lose money)
  • agree to offer family tiers which require digital cable boxes (makes money, address indecency)

FCC:

Critics and analysts:

  • family tiers do not address indecency, do not address consumer costs, appear to address both, and are part of a hidden agenda

Confused?’ I know I’m confused and feeling increasingly annoyed
about my own cable bundle.’ Writing this, I think about the Michael
Douglas movie where the guy loses it and keeps "demanding his rights as a consumer".’

I want faster Internet and more digital phone features and
customizable TV programming for the money I’m paying now.’ Yeah sure, I
can understand both sides of the "how a’ la carte will affect prices"
argument.’ I don’t want smaller channels to go out of business and I don’t want to pay for channels that I don’t watch. I share this bottom line:

We
won’t know actual costs until some company starts offering customizable
pay TV. But it seems highly unlikely that I would end up paying the
same amount for the same number of channels I now get in a bundle. That
doesn’t bother me much, though: I would rather pay more and get exactly
those channels I want than get a discount on 100 channels I never
watch. Your bottom line may vary.

Will Cablevision figure it out?

Way to go Chuck, a cable executive with anough chutzpah to call it as he sees it.

C’mon..how hard can it be?’ Its changing a business model..not rocket science.

Consumers are getting hit with higher energy costs and higher
interest rates; will this be the winter where there is a tipping point
for the financially squeezed consumer who will have make a choice
between cable TV and other necessities?’ If so, it could be a boon for
Dish TV, Netflix and old-fashioned TV antennas.
As for me, I’m so tired of the same old, same old that I’m thinking of
getting rid of TV altogether – take a break for year or until a ‘next
big thing’ makes TV valuable to me again.’ ‘

But I won’t expect the FCC to drive any change..its become increasingly irrelevant to the consumer.

Filed under: Consciousness, career, going solo
Tagged:
Comments: None