When news of this came out I mentioned to my wife how only people that subscribe to extended cable plans would be able to see the network. I think the thing is going to fail.
1. Cable is a government protected monopoly, therefore they can set the rules.
2. The 'rules' consist of package pricing only, no ala carte pricing. So, if you want the Oprah channel and nothing else, you have to buy 15 MTV's, 25 ESPN's, a bunch of Discovery Channels, etc.
They can't even offer packages that makes sense. For instance, a 'just sports' package, or a 'just cartoons/kid shows' package, or a just news/weather package, for instance.
The 'basic' package gives you one of each category, while higher level packages consist of a lot more of all categories, never all of one category/interest.