Could a la carte mean fewer HDTV channels?
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Aug 27th 2007 at 10:31AM
Recently minority groups have been complaining to the FCC 'cause they feel the a la carte initiative would hurt their programming. They're afraid that without the traditional subsidizing system that there would be less Spanish channels (for example). The same might be said for HDTV channels, and while it would be a short term problem, it might mean we have to wait for the rest of America to upgrade to HD. Technical complications aside, we think it would be nice to only buy the channels we want, but let's be honest, our motivation is money, we want to spend less of it. Most people don't care that there are tons of channels they don't watch, they just want to pay less. Obviously the MSOs are against us giving them less money, and thus against a la carte; but to their point, content providers force packages on them and they're just passing it on to us. We're not saying the MSOs need any charity, but fair is fair -- somehow we don't see the media giants coming along quietly.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thane @ Aug 27th 2007 1:11PM
"without the traditional subsidizing system that there would be less Spanish channels"
I think just the opposite is true. If you had the ability to order channels on a per-channel basis. Would not a lot of Spanish speaking people order their 3/4 Spanish channels and say the hell with the other 76 English channels?
SimbaDogg @ Aug 27th 2007 1:18PM
sounds good, then maybe i'd be able to drop some of the damn 20+ home shopping and religious channels that no one ever watches, and pick up something worth while.
Xyzzy @ Aug 27th 2007 2:25PM
Simba - you're not paying for the shopping/religion channels, those channels are actually paying the provider. If they went away, your bill would go UP, not down...
Raydeen @ Aug 27th 2007 3:06PM
I think Spanish language channels should be subscription only, I have 5 of them never asked for them never wanted them.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 27th 2007 3:18PM
if thats the case, then give me 100 of them...i'll do anything for a lower bill, i'll just delete them from my custom 1
horngreen @ Aug 27th 2007 8:32PM
If it ain't HD then I don't want it(with two channel exceptions). I only watch about 10 of 100 subscription channels, and don't give two hoots about the other 90 channels. If the biggies don't offer taylor made packages, IPTV start-ups may fill the demand.