Comcast Rate Hike Season Returns > content providers

reply to Crookshanks

Re: content providers

reply to SunnyD
Well, I always assumed that they signed agreements for bundles of channels, but they could still separate out those bundles into different packages. Want the History Channel or A&E? Buy the A&E package. Want ESPN? Buy the Disney package. Want TNT or CNN? Buy the Turner package. Not as ideal as a'la carte on a per channel basis but it's still better than the "all or nothing" model we have today.

As far as pricing, it's a given that you'd wind up paying more per channel than you currently do, but the hope is that you'd pay less money overall by dropping unneeded channels. It would also allow consumers to see the true cost of different channels/bundles, whereas today they are insulated from it. Connect them closer to this cost and the content providers will eventually see decreased uptake as a result of their never ending price hikes. It would also solve the problem of content providers holding the cable/satellite companies hostage. They can charge whatever they want, consumers will either pay it or ditch their channels.

In the ideal world you wouldn't even have the cable company as the middle man collecting the funds. Imagine a purchasing model similar to the way you select a long distance provider on your POTS line. You deal directly with the provider, work out whatever pricing/contract arrangement you want with them, then they tell the cable company to release their channels to your equipment.