I would love to be able to buy only the channels I want, but I also say this is governmental overreach.
It will never pass. It would be the end of the big-four sports as we know it, as eight-figure, decade-long salaries and ten-figure sports deals depend on the hidden “taxation” of every cable and dish customer that goes via ESPN fees to the teams.
Bigtime. I can only surmise, as we nonchalantly breach Article 1 Section 8 one more time, that there is some further roadway to government takeover of yet another industry.
It’s not “government overreach” because cable is like the water company or the electric company. It’s not a true free market. The government (us) is already involved.
There can be five hot dog carts on the same street; but we’ve all agreed it’s impossible to have five sets of cables running to your house so you can take your pick.
So one company is awarded (by government) the chance to serve a particular area. No competition.
Since the consumer can’t take their business elsewhere, as in the case of the lousy hot dog cart, the only way to make cable companies responsive to what the consumer wants is government regulation.
The consumer wants a la carte cable. If the cable companies don’t think they still can make money offering it, then they need to give up their local franchises to other providers who can.