Picky Picky!

For years, many people have wondered why they can't buy T.V. channels
one-by-one instead of a single big package of channels, 90% of which are
shitty ones they'll never watch. Now someone has filed a suit against the
major cable and satellite companies demanding that they offer their channels
on a piecemeal basis. Finally!
The cable industry always protests vehemently, spouting the same stuff: "We
can't do this, it'll be too expensive!" Bullshit. They also say that if we
could order only the channels we want, certain niche channels that have
smaller viewer-ship would be dropped altogether because they're typically
packaged with the large-viewer-ship channels. But why should I have to pay
for crap I'll never watch, like religious programming, MTV, the Nashville
Network, and all sports channels? It's not fair, dammit.
Here's what I'd like to see: letting us go online and change our billing &
channel selection at will. Imagine logging into your account, and it
displays a list of channels you're currently subscribed to. There's also a
list of unsubscribed channels you can pick from, so you put a check-mark
next to each new channel you want. Maybe you want to drop the Give Jesus
Money channel, so you un-check that one. Frankly, I don't blame you. Then
you click Update Subscription, and once the request is processed on their
systems (in a few minutes, hopefully), suddenly your cable box is picking up
the channels you picked. Wouldn't that be cool? I don't watch cable because
I detest the advertising and 95% of the programming, but I'd consider
getting a cable package if I had this kind of choice. Having to download
torrents of the shows I do watch is kind of a pain, y'know?
So what about pricing? Well, how about charging a flat rate of $1/channel
monthly or something? If you honestly watch 100+ channels, then pay for it
rather than making the rest of us pay for dozens of channels we don't want.
And if there's truth to the argument about lower-viewer-ship channels
(subsidized by more popular ones) being in danger of being dropped, they can
either 1) drop the channels and piss people off, or 2) have subscribers pay
a premium price for them. Use the viewer-ship numbers (based on how many
subscribe using the web-based idea above) and determine a suitable price. If
you must have the Underwater Basket-weaving Channel or the Extreme Antiques
Channel, you should be willing to pay more for it. And hey, if those
channels get more popular, then your fees go down. Yay!
See, it's not that big of a deal. You cable companies need to stop being
such whiny infants and start giving your clients a little more choice and
control, even if it costs you some money up front. And look, I just threw in
two ideas for free! :)