Florida Stanley
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It's a transitory product that will eventually get where people want it to go, which is full a la carte. What people actually want I think, and I'm kind of baffled as to why it isn't moving faster in this direction, is the ability to pick and choose what channels they want on a channel-by-channel basis (not packages or bundles). They want to be able to buy 1 channel, 5 channels, or 100 channels and have it priced accordingly. All the streaming services I've seen, while offering smaller bundles than the cable companies, still don't let you pick and choose what channels you want.“YouTube TV hikes price to $64.99/month”
Streaming TV services is the dumbest trend of all time. Prove me wrong.
The dirty little secret is no one watches 90% of the channels in these cable packages and an a la carte system would prove it.It's a transitory product that will eventually get where people want it to go, which is full a la carte. What people actually want I think, and I'm kind of baffled as to why it isn't moving faster in this direction, is the ability to pick and choose what channels they want on a channel-by-channel basis (not packages or bundles). They want to be able to buy 1 channel, 5 channels, or 100 channels and have it priced accordingly. All the streaming services I've seen, while offering smaller bundles than the cable companies, still don't let you pick and choose what channels you want.
Streaming isn't going away though - the reason for people to have both internet and cable TV is dwindling by the day.
True, but that isn't preventing them from going full a la carte. In these bundles, they don't really charge you for those channels nobody watches. What they do is they'll bundle 30 channels together that lots of people do watch, throw in more crap nobody watches that they don't really charge for, and offer the bundle even though all you really want are 10 of the 30 popular channels. Basically, the cable companies want you to pay for the popular channels you don't watch, in addition to the ones you watch.The dirty little secret is no one watches 90% of the channels in these cable packages and an a la carte system would prove it.
Doubt it. They’re gonna get your money one way or the other.True, but that isn't preventing them from going full a la carte. In these bundles, they don't really charge you for those channels nobody watches. What they do is they'll bundle 30 channels together that lots of people do watch, throw in more crap nobody watches that they don't really charge for, and offer the bundle even though all you really want are 10 of the 30 popular channels. Basically, the cable companies want you to pay for the popular channels you don't watch, in addition to the ones you watch.
The cost per channel might not go down - hell, ESPN would probably become more expensive under an a la carte system. However, if all you wanted was ESPN and maybe a couple more channels, your cable bill would still be a lot cheaper.