Cable Needs a New Pricing Model
How Much is Too Much? It’s expensive to have cable television. By the time I add up the charge for a DVR and a basic package that doesn’t include any movie channels, I’m out at least $70 per month. But I don’t even watch half the channels that I get. So what am I paying for? And how many people don’t have cable because of how expensive even a basic package can be? Pay-Per-Channel Cable companies need to offer a new pricing model to attract new price-conscious consumers. They need to offer a pay-per-channel (PPC) model. Think if the system was set up like iTunes. Each channel would cost $0.99 per month. High definition DVRs would come free with service. Installation would be free. There’d be no low initial fee that eventually balloons. No contracts to sign. Pay for what you want. People who don’t currently have cable because of its cost would flock to the new PPC model. In the PPC model, you could turn on the channels that you want and turn off the channels that you don’t want each mont...