Re: FCC Urges 'A La Carte' Cable

"Ian J. Ball" <ijball***NO-SPAM***@mac.com.invalid> wrote in
news:ijball***NO-SPAM***-776B6F.14182229112005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10249339/
>
> Forget most of this article - the important part is this:
>
> --
> [Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin] said
> that cable and satellite providers might want to consider letting
> consumers pay for a bundle of channels that they could choose
> themselves, a variation of the so-called "a la carte" pricing
> system that some in Congress have backed.
>
> "You can always turn the television off and of course block the
> channels you don¹t want," Martin said, "but why should you have
> to."

Yeah! Why should I be FORCED to NOT WATCH all those channels?? It's
hell remembering not to change the channel to BET all the time.

> Cable and satellite providers complain that "a la carte" pricing
> or tiers would drive up costs for equipment, customer service and
> marketing ? charges that would likely be passed to subscribers.
> --
>
> The cable companies are whistling past the graveyard on this one -
> with the advent of digital cable, not only is 'a la carte' cable
> desirable, it's inevitable.
>
> The first company to offer it will make a bundle...

That's because people like me will suddenly be paying a lot more to
keep the channels we watch regularly. And at the same time we'll a
have a much smaller selection.

There are channels I don't watch for months at a time, and then I'll
watch intensely when there's a tennis tournament or a soccer
championships or a cable movie or a major news event. Am I really
supposed to subscribe and unsubscribe to/from each channel several
times per year? To quote the FCC hack, sure I can do that, but WHY
SHOULD I HAVE TO?

Why can't they give me the whole selection and charge me for what I
actually watch? Then they can get rid of those stupid Neilson
ratings.

-Dan Damouth

--
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all
other countries because you were born in it. -- George Bernard Shaw
.

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