It’s interesting to note that the media, despite their frequent corporate links to broadcast channels and/or carriers, will talk about cord-cutting all day long but assiduously avoid the subject of channel bundling.
Bundling is an anachronism completely obviated by modern digital technology but it has been kept around since it provides camouflage for less desirable and/or profitable channels - like CNN and MSNBC.
It is a slush fund for carriers as well since so many channels in a tier may be infomercials or other advertising vehicles.
For reasons unknown neither the FCC nor Congress will touch bundling with a barge pole.
But subscriber behavior can and will eventually push carriers to change their own behavior or they will continue to see people voting with their feet. $25 for a select number of channels that people actually want or $200 for a huge number of channels (I use the term advisedly) that they don’t want? It’s no contest.
“For reasons unknown neither the FCC nor Congress will touch bundling with a barge pole.”
Reasons unknown?
It’s called $$$$ in Congressmen’s pockets.
Cable TV will soon end up in the dustpile along with dial phones, landlines and Palm Pilots.
The entire bundled garbage biz model was a colossal con-job. And now they’re looting and jacking up the rates of what’s left of their customer base to keep those profits ups.
Years ago I spoke with the cable con-man on the phone. I told him I do not use, cannot understand nor do I want 75 percent of the garbage channels they had me paying for ..All he could do is parrot the song and dance corporate told him to say.
I did what millions of others did and ditched the greedy ba$tards!
I miss my 10” C-band dish. I could purchase À la carte, the channels I actually wanted and spent less that $80 a year. I would only purchase ESPN only during football season.
The small dishes killed C-band. Since that happened, I have been streaming from the internet.
That’s not how it will eventually work. Right now you can get cbs by itself for 10 bucks a month. You can get hbo go for ten bucks a month on any platform without having cable. Eventually channels will be sold separate but not sure if the costs will save you much.
It’s none of the FCC’s or Congress’ business. That’s why they won’t touch it.
Carriers aren’t why bundling happens. Networks are why bundling happens. With 5 companies owning most of the networks those companies have a vest interest in getting as many of their networks into the lowest tier possible. They sell to the carriers in bundles, thus the carriers sell to us in bundles. Until those companies are willing to sell a la carte bundling is the business.
For reasons unknown neither the FCC nor Congress will touch bundling with a barge pole.
But subscriber behavior can and will eventually push carriers to change their own behavior or they will continue to see people voting with their feet. $25 for a select number of channels that people actually want or $200 for a huge number of channels (I use the term advisedly) that they don’t want? It’s no contest.
By not allowing us to use a cafeteria approach re paying for the channels we want to watch and forcing us to pay for a 100-200+ channels we don’t want. Congress is enabling CNN and other liberal channels to exist.
Sling and Utube TV are a step in the right direction. However our lower monthly fee is still keeping a lot of left wing tv and fake news channels on the air.
They’re digging their own graves. They can’t help themselves, their lobbyists prevent an end to channel bundling, which would actually help save subscriptions, but they’d rather continue to charge those who haven’t cut the cable yet for channels they don’t want than to keep more subscribers.