[opendtv] Re: Pro a la carte, Another Perspective

Well, that is much of the point of a la carte. To the extent a channel supplier demands an extra fee the customer should have the option of skipping that channel and avoiding that fee. I guess that's what I'm doing now having dropped back to limited basic 2-4 years ago when I got upset with the pricing.
But you are correct I was mis-characterizing the lifeline tier as carrying only free must-carry channels and that is no longer true. They only appear free to me. I suppose I'm currently just taking advantage of a quirk in the pricing system that I found out about when I called Comcast to cancel ALL my cable TV and just keep broadband. But I got used to it and kept only a similar package when I moved to Gainesville and Cox cable. 

- Tom




Craig Birkmaier wrote:

At 11:28 AM -0500 12/15/07, Tom Barry wrote:
I guess one way to look at the a la carte pricing issue is to assume that any channel already on the Lifeline (limited basic analog AND clear QAM digital) channel is already in a tier priced so low as to be considered free, at least when bundled with other services like broadband. And any channel in that tier is very extremely likely to stay there. None of them will suddenly start costing any different under a la carte.
It is the large expensive premium packages that should be unbundled. I wish proponents of a la carte would make that more clear. The Lifeline package is fine now, as currently regulated. 


Two problems:
1. Some of the channels in the lifeline service are now charging subscriber fees, thanks to retransmission consent.
2. It is likely that the extended basic subscribers are going to subsidize these subscriber fees, just as they have been subsidizing this tier all along (the cable companies must negotiate the price of this service as part of their franchise agreement, and the industry claims to be losing money on this tier).
So it is difficult to predict what might happen under ala carte. Given the historic ambitions of the broadcasters, I am certain that they would get Congress to "require" the delivery of all broadcast signals under any ala carte system. In other words, you would NOT be able to opt out of the broadcast channels - the politicians must maintain the ability to reach 100% of the citizens!
So while it might not cost more for the lifeline tier, everyone will be forced to pay the broadcasters the fees that they demand via retransmission consent. 

Regards
Craig


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