Cyber Akuma
@comcast.net | Does comcast offer any option of a la carte?
A friend of mine wants to get a single channel (G4TV), but dosen't care about any of the other channels in the package. Is there any way he can do this? |
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gar187er
Premium Alcoholic
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE | easy answer. no. |
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Cyber Akuma
@comcast.net | reply to Cyber Akuma
What do you mean by easy answer? |
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gar187er
Premium Alcoholic
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE | reply to Cyber Akuma
cause there is nothing to figure out, or try, or ask about, they simply do not allow this. |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL | reply to Cyber Akuma
Nah, he'd have to subscribe to the package that offers that channel (usually Digital Classic/Preferred). |
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BlueBeetle
join:2009-02-06
Arnold, MD | reply to Cyber Akuma
Is it because of Olivia Munn? |
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beavercable
join:2008-05-11
Beaverton, OR | reply to Cyber Akuma
Depending on where you live it could be in either the starter or preferred package. For Or/sw Washington its in the starter. |
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elister
join:2006-07-17
Seattle, WA | reply to Cyber Akuma
The only way we'll get a la carte from Comcast, is if someone else starts offering it, probably via IPTV standards (perhaps setup in Vancouver BC, Winnepeg or Toronto?). |
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LordTulla
join:2004-12-12
Bridgeton, NJ
| reply to Cyber Akuma
said by Cyber Akuma :
A friend of mine wants to get a single channel (G4TV), but dosen't care about any of the other channels in the package. Is there any way he can do this?
One option may be for your friend to review the "Tier Buy-Though rule" for applicability to their situation. This is a little known Cable rule that you won't get the cable companies to help you with - see below...
Washington, D.C.: On October 5, 1992, Congress passed the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, also known as The Cable Act.
The Cable Act was famous for regulating a number of issues including: prohibiting cable operators from re-transmitting the signal of a commercial television or radio station without the station's consent; requiring that a cable operator get permission from a broadcast station before cable programming can be aired on the broadcast spectrum; and requiring that cable operators must set aside up to a maximum of one-third of its channel capacity for local commercial television stations.
Lesser known is that the Cable Act also contained the "tier buy-through" rule, a provision that prohibits a cable operator from conditioning a subscriber's access to per channel or per program video programming on the purchase of any other tier other than the basic tier. In simpler terms, this means that cable operators could no longer force cable subscribers to purchase expanded or digital packages just to get access to premium channels such as HBO or Showtime. The provision applies to all cable systems, including those that are not subject to rate regulation. Cable systems that were technically incapable of letting subscribers buy only the basic tier and still have access to all pay services were given ten years to bring their systems into compliance.
October of 2002 was the ten-year deadline for cable systems to comply with the Cable Act. Now that the rule has taken effect, cable customers now have much more flexibility in choosing which channel or pricing packages they'd like to purchase. However, the rule allows customers to choose only premium stations such as HBO on an a la carte basis, not other satellite stations such as CNN or MTV. |
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jc77
@comcast.net | reply to Cyber Akuma
I really wish they'd offer something like this. There would be a LOT of channels that I'd gladly un-subscribe to, if it meant having a slightly lower bill. |
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mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV
 ·DIRECTV
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Comcast Digital Vo..
 ·Comcast
| reply to Cyber Akuma
if they did this could you imagine how much your bill would be. If you wanted espn, espn news,espn classic,espnu, espn2, abc family, disney,the weather channel,cnn,msnbc,fox sports,tlc.
You figure at $3 per channel would be $39 plus the other channels you would want plus boxes and fees. |
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Cyber Akuma
@comcast.net | reply to LordTulla
Quite interesting LordTulla
So how do I know what channel applies as Premium or not?
And is there anything like this in Illinois? |
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beavercable
join:2008-05-11
Beaverton, OR
·Comcast
| reply to Cyber Akuma
Well technically Comcast could offer its customers G4 a la carte because they own the network. But if you believe the nerd talk on this forum G4 sucks. A la carte has been discussed before many many times in the end if it were to go through the consumer would definately see pay tv prices sky rocket and niche channels disappear in months. |
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AVonGauss
Premium,MVM
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL
| said by beavercable  :A la carte has been discussed before many many times in the end if it were to go through the consumer would definately see pay tv prices sky rocket and niche channels disappear in months. I'm not sure that is a given. |
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The Q
join:2008-06-26
Collegeville, PA
| reply to Cyber Akuma
G4 is not a premium channel and does not meet the definition of a premium channel.
Examples of a premium channel are HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, etc.
Current Business Economics of Cable Television
As much as I love G4, if that channel were to be offered "a-la-carte", they would lose many viewers (be in less homes) and be less appealing to advertiser dollars with the end result being good-bye G4 because no one is watching and no one is buying advertising.
I want to buy just the sports section in my daily newspaper. How much is that? 75 cents.
But how much is the whole newspaper? 75 cents
Well, that does not seem fair. I only want the sports section. It should be cheaper. What is it like 1/6 of the newspaper? This is highway robbery!
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Curlee
join:2009-07-17
Issaquah, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to beavercable
said by beavercable : But if you believe the nerd talk on this forum G4 sucks. FWIW, I'm not a gamer, but G4 occasionally has good movies with what seems like fewer commercials. |
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beavercable
join:2008-05-11
Beaverton, OR | What I was refering to was the general undertones that G4 was better when it was tech tv. |
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RalphKramden
join:2007-01-10
Langhorne, PA
| reply to AVonGauss
I'm sure that if Comcast (or any cable/sat provider) were forced to offer a la carte options, they would price it so that at some point it would be cheaper to take a package.
E.g. package contains 50 channels for $50 (just making this up). Individual packages cost $2 each. If you order 25 channels, you'd be better off with the package.
If the $50 for 50 channels price is derived from how much Comcast has to pay the content providers, they would make more money from those who subscribe to only a portion of the channels.
Only want 10 channels? You pay $20. Comcast still makes a profit. You have a lower bill. Everyone is happy.
Order enough channels to drive the price up to $50? You get a bunch of additional channels that you may or may not watch but you're not paying extra. In theory you don't care. Comcast still makes money. You get what you want and more for a set price. Comcast has less administrative overhead if you take the package. Everyone is happy.
I know nothing about cable TV economics, but this model isused in other industries that sell 3rd party content. |
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