If you could choose your own cable TV package....

[Zookeeper]

what would it include?

Here's what I have that I'd keep:

Networks, CSpan 1 and 2, Comedy Central, MSNBC, CNN, TCM, Cartoon Network, Nick (Spongebob!), Animal Planet (my boycat likes it), A&E, Bravo, HGTV, TLC, History, Discovery, Public Access, Spike (only for MXC).

I'd add:

IFC, Sundance, DIY, Indiplex, FXM, BBC America.

And I wouldn't have my TV cluttered with endless sports channels (Golf? WTF?). Or Fox Nonsense. Or religious programing.

[azmouse]

1. In a way my cable lets me choose

by having a feature to block channels from showing up on the on-screen guide. It's a nice way to not have to scroll through endless sports channels, game show channels, Faux Noise channel, or any other crappy channel that I don't watch. I just have the channels showing that I might want to watch... and that means I've eliminated about 80% of them.

[Zookeeper]

4. Yes, I have most of the sports channels blocked also....

I just wish I didn't have to pay for them, or could replace them with something more interesting.

(And "80%" sounds about right! :eyes: )

:hi:

[RoyGBiv]

18. FWIW ...

In a roundabout way, you would pay for them anyway, if the channels you want even stay around.

The way channels are priced is heavily dependent on package offerings made by content providers with cable (and satellite) providers. That is Channel A -- let's call it a CYW (Channel You Want) may cost .25 per subscriber while Channel B, CYDW, costs $1.00 per subscriber, but both channels are owned by the same company and so are offered as a package. In most cases, the only reason Channel A even exists in the lineup is because it comes with Channel B.

In practical terms, the whole thing tends to work the reverse of the way people think it does. Yes, you're paying for channels you don't want, but the income from those channels essentially finances the existence of lower (or negative) profit channels.

Some of the channels you list would never have come into existence if they weren't produced by parent companies that were already pulling in tons of cash from other networks they already offered, and they were pushed into lineups with the package deals. Take that away, and two things will happen. Some of the low-viewership and/or specialized channels will go away, and all the remaining channels will be astonishingly generic so as to appeal to the widest possible demographic.

[Zookeeper]

20. I suspected something like that....

was behind it.

Maybe they should offer packages geared to different interests. A package with a variety of news and movies sites, but light on the sports. Another with more sports and less of something else. And continue to offer the kind of package they have now, with something for everyone.

[RoyGBiv]

21. I think what it will take ...

...is something like a storming of the Magic Kingdom castle. :-)

Seriously, a heaping lot of it is controlled by Disney. They *could* do something like you suggest, but just don't want to because they make too much money with the current system.

At its base, what needs to happen is some serious overhauling of the manner in which Congress and the FCC regulate this stuff.

[Patiod]

2. That's one of the main reasons I don't have cable

No element of choice (well, there's "do you want this one fixed package, or do you want the fixed package plus premium channels?")

I'd get Networks, Comedy Central, BBC America, History, A&E (so I could watch "Law & Order" reruns when my brain was tired), MSNBC, CNN, Animal Planet (animal cops), Bravo, HGTV, TLC, Discovery and Spike (for the same reason you would want it - most Extreme Elimination Challenge)

I've never seen the other ones you list, because I only see the cable channels at my friends' houses or in hotel rooms, and hotels don't have IFC or Sundance. We don't have local access in Philadelphia for some reason.

[terrya]

3. Mine:

C-Span 1 & 2, TCM, A&E, Bravo, Logo, Comedy Central, Food Network, Sundance, BBC America, History.

I agree with you about the Golf Channel. Fucking useless. Ditto religious channels (I think I could live without seeing Mother Angelica on the Catholic Channel or whatever it's called)

[trogdor]

11. I block the shit I don't want.

With DirecTV, that means about eight or nine shopping channels, eight or nine Jesus channels, and the Fox Noise Channel. I did this when I discovered that "all channels" on the program guide has me browsing a bunch of channels I don't get, along with the aforementioned shopping-for-shit channels (which are not grouped together) and the Jesus TV channels (ditto). My "custom" list consists of channels I get, minus the crap I don't want (which would probably still come in even if I cancelled DirecTV altogether). It ain't perfect, but it works.

[CatholicEdHead]

17. Eternal World Television Network (EWTN)

is what it is called. Mostly a waste of a broadcast channel.

[Kutjara]

22. What's that channel that always seems to be showing a movie...

...in which Michael York is the Antichrist, manipulating the UN or the European Union until he brings about Armageddon? That movie had me rolling on the floor with tears streaming down my face. I hope the money was worth it Mike.

[ikojo]

5. I'd include the following channels

The local stations...channels 2,4,5,9,11 and 30.
WGN for the Cubs
MSNBC for KEITH
TCM..Turner Classic Movies
Fox Movie Channel
Sci Fi
Discovery in all of its manifestations
TLC
C-SPAN 1 and C-SPAN 2
Sundance
IFC
TV Land..sometimes they show good stuff
All of the movie channels
A&E
Bravo
Animal Planet
BBC America
History (aka the Hitler) Channel
Cartoon Network

I'd add
Link TV
Free Speech TV


What I'd ditch in a MINUTE.....EVERY religious, sports and home shopping channel...EVERY last one of them!!!

[Jamastiene]

6. "And I wouldn't have my TV cluttered with endless sports channels (Golf? WTF?). Or Fox Nonsense. Or

Fox Nonsense. Or religious programing."

Hear here. I couldn't agree more. I'd have about the same lineup you mentioned above too, only I'd include AMC and TBS and TNT too. Great lineup.

[ikojo]

7. AMC, TBS and TNT tend to censor

the movies they show. They also have A LOT of commercials...too many for my taste.

[Zavulon]

8. None.

I'd only keep the networks, and I receive them perfectly well for free.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I'd have:

the broadcast networks, especially PBS
Turner Classic Movies
Sundance
IFC
BBCAmerica (for the Monday night mysteries and the occasional engrossing short-term soap opera such as Bodies or Bad Girls --it's the dregs and moldy oldies of British TV otherwise)
CNN (for events that NEED pictures)
The CSPAN channels
HBO
The Discovery channels
History International
TV Japan :-)
Classical Arts Showcase (available on public access in some markets)
Comedy Central
Public access (for Democracy Now)
MSNBC


That's about it. Ten years ago, I would have included A&E and Bravo, but those two channels are now just trashy shadows of their former selves.

I'd love it if the cable companies let you design your own packages, pricing them by number of channels instead of putting all the interesting channels in the expensive tiers. You know, you could get just the broadcast channels, public access, and CSPAN for a rock-bottom price, just like now, but then you could add additional channels entirely of your choice, with the price going up for each five that you added.

[Zookeeper]

15. Being able to design your own package would be great....

and, as you suggest, pricing it by groups of five would be a reasonable way to handle it.

That's what they should be working on, rather than trying to destroy net neutrality.

:hi:

[Celeborn Skywalker]

32. Yes

Bravo, TLC, and A&E have descended into utter trash. Those used to be my favorite channels. Too bad.

[Orsino]

10. The Science Channel.

It's not the one I watch the most, but it seems to be the touchstone for satellite channels. It's only available from Dish Network if you get the most expensive package. God damn it.

[ThomCat]

12. Food Network

Cartoon Network
Boomerang
SciFi channel
Discovery
History
TLC

I don't ever watch anything else. And I rarely watch any of those. :shrug:

[Deja Q]

13. Desire to copycat aside,

I'd keep Nickelodeon, Lifetime, CNN, CSPAN, Cartoon network, sci-fi, A&E, Spike, TV Land...

That's about $60 now - and I rarely watch those.

[KitchenWitch]

14. For me? or for the family?

For me it would be the following:

The C-SPANs, CNN, MSNBC, Food Network, Home and Garden Network, DIY Network, Nick, Fox Sports North (so I can view my Twins baseball games), Local channels, BBC America, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet.

For the family, we would end up with a heavy sports package (husband is a sports fanatic), Disney Channel, Sprout, and the Game Show Network.

[Zookeeper]

29. It sounds like you need....

Super-Size Family Package...;) That's where it does get complicated.

My DH doesn't care about sports. And I'm always trying to get my daughter to stop watching MTV and VH1 (some seriously trashy waste-of-time shows), so I think we could streamline our channel selections without much dissent.

We all just need more options.

:hi:

[CatholicEdHead]

16. SciFi (for BSG), Comedy Central, BBC America, BBC World

C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports Net North (Twins games), CNN International, Weather Channel, National Geographic, Versus (Tour de France in July)

[MadMaddie]

25. Definitely have to have the SciFi channel.

[Kali]

19. All I would want would be whatever channel The Daily Show and

Colbert Report are on - I don't even know! :blush: don't watch tv except in the occasional motel when traveling. Don't have much use for anything else that I know of.

[crim son]

23. I don't know because I've never had cable

but if I had more than the four channels I have now, I'd probably watch more television. I don't want to, so I'm satisfied.

[Dean Martin]

24. no sports, shopping or religious channels

So I wouldn't have to spend time making favorites lists.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

26. ALL ME WANTS IS FOX!!1!1!11

:silly:

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. Fox Sports West 2, for Dodgers games

TCM, History Channel, Discovery and Discovery Wings (or whatever they call it now), Nick At Nite, C-SPAN, Comedy Central (for TDS), CNN or MSNBC and about half a dozen local channels.

Wonder if Big Teevee will ever go a la carte. :shrug:

[Jimbo S]

28. Only a few for me

CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX
PBS
Fox Sports North (Wisconsin version, not the MN version)
ESPN, ESPN2
The Weather Channel
Comedy Central
Travel Channel
TV Land
Fox Sports World
BBC America
Game Show Network

The last three I don't have and I wished I had.

[stuntcat]

30. TV Land

and PBS and Comedy Central.

[Critters2]

31. TBS, Food Network, TLC, Dicsovery, History, maybe TV land, CNN,

The Weather Channel, TNT, C-Span 1 & 2, Animal Planet, MSNBC, and the networks. I wish they'd go to an a la carte system. I hate paying for the fundie channels (I get 5 of 'em!!) and Faux.