Cable TV A La Carte?

Anonymous Coward writes "According to this BusinessWeek article you can now get your MTV a la carte. I having been waiting for years to buy my cable by the channel, and this article indicates that my cable company is now legally required to let me. I am going to call Time Warner tomorrow with my list just to see what they say. Anyone out there doing this now?"

Premium channels only

[plasmd]

If you read the article... it's only talking about getting premium channels individually. So you can get just one nightly dose of Skinemax, w/o paying for cinemax 2, 3 and 4.

Doesn't apply to basic cable.

Wrong

[ajakk]

The headline and description are totally wrong. The rule says that a Cable company must allow you to buy HBO/Showtime/Cinimax/TMC without signing up for premium cable. So this means if you don't like watching MTV, Discovery Wings, or other non-Basic cable channels, but you watch HBO, you can drop Premium cable, but still keep HBO.

In Canada, we have this already.

[vlag]

We've had cable à la carte in Quebec for at least 4 years. You pay a small premium for the ability to pick your channels, but it is always worth it.
Here is an example of one of our à la carte providers. [illico.tv]

I JUST CALLED MY CABLE COMPANY and they said no go

[rveno1]

I just called my cable comapany and asked them If I can choose my basic local (broadcast) channels and Comedy central, TLC, MTV. The Receptionoist Informed me that these channels are part of "family package" and I would have to purchase that option to get those channels. The CS person then informed me that I can pick and choose my movie channels if I so desired.

Oh well so much for legal rules

(PS I have cablevision)

Re:Fun ...

[dalassa]

I quit because all of the sudden Time Warner wanted (aka insisted) that we use "Digital Cable" - to get what I used to get just fine. There is no way I am paying $80 a month to watch a bit of TV. No way. None.

They tried to con you too? Be glad you didn't take it, digital isn't all that much better and it doesn't degrades gracefully. Time-Warner in our area didn't want to be bothered actually fixing the ancient equipment in our neighborhood so the tv was impossible to watch. We went back to analog in a month.

Re:Price limits?

[CerebusUS]

Our local cable company offers the ability to buy individual channels from the packages they offer.

However, unless you are buying less than 5 channels you'll spend more money than the package.

Since most people want at least MTV, TWC, CNN, DISC, CC and SCIFI it's kind of a moot point.

Cable TV A La Carte?

[Anonymous Coward]

We have ATT Broadband Cable, previous TCI. Mid-summer this year, they dropped the premium movie channels from all non-digital converter boxes, requiring customers to go with the digital systems if they wanted premium movies. This "A La Carte" ruling would seem to be addressed with this obnoxious policy implemented by ATT, etc.

Re:Situation in other countires?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well in France, the whole country is divided geographically between operators, with each operator exercising a monopoly in its area. But the big advantage is that ALL of the cableco allow for pick and choose. In Paris, a basic cable subscription gives you all the free channels as well as the national ones, each additional channel is accounted for by a number of points and you can buy points for each month by points. I.E. you can buy 75, 110 , 150 etc. points. The only channels that are bundled are the 2 competing groups of movie channels that are sold in groups of 5. That way I was able to get Cartoon Network, CNBC, Mangas (yes we have an all anime channel in France) as well as Game 1 (which is another nice channel dedicated to gaming). My total bill each month is around 29 Eur.

Re:No, you can't get MTV a la cart, read it again.

[rhombic]

Or maybe the AC submitter should have actually read the article before submitting, with a totally wrong title.

Re:You're not married are you?

[Anonymous Coward]

Taken from RealityWorldTV.com:

The second season of Trading Spaces has seen some pretty dramatic room makeovers, as well as homeowner reactions. None more memorable than that of Pam Herrick, who had to leave the room and cry, after the reveal of her new dark brown living room. She tells EntertainmentWeekly.com that she "felt violated." Meanwhile her husband says the "Trading Spaces crew is sloppy, unprofessional and unsafe when it comes to the makeover process. Our home was left a fire hazard and in violation of local building codes." Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago, TLC aired an episode in which designer Hilda Santo-Tomas glued straw/hay all over a couple's living room. In case you were wondering, it took 5 adults (including the neighbours who glued it on in the first place) 17 hours to get all the hay and glue off the walls, after the show had left. As the unstable bookshelf that Trading Spaces installed became a hazard for their young children, the couple removed it from the room. In addition, they paid $3000 for a new mantle, to replace the one that Hilda removed. So much for that $1000 budget.

Re:You're not married are you?

[Fiver-]

Here's the article I think he's referring to: Oakland survivors of home decorating TV show try to paint over cracks in friendship [sfgate.com]

We've had this for years

[Rushmore]

The local cable company here in Canada charges us 10.00/month for the digital cable box which we bought from them for 129.00 so we don't even pay that. They have this thing that's 20.00 for 20 channels, plus 1.50 or so for every other channel you want. You also have to pay 8.95/month for a basic set of 50 some odd channels.

Here is a link to and copy of the actual reg

[angle_slam]

I hate it when articles don't refer to the regulation being discussed. As far as I can tell, the article is discussing 47 C.F.R. 76.921, which you can find by entering a search at FindLaw [findlaw.com]. A direct link is available from the Legal Information Institute [cornell.edu], though this link appears to be slow.

Because the link is slow, here is the text of that rule:

Sec. 76.921 Buy-through of other tiers prohibited.

(a) No cable system operator, other than an operator subject to effective competition, may require the subscription to any tier other than the basic service tier as a condition of subscription to video programming offered on a per channel or per program charge basis. A cable operator may, however, require the subscription to one or more tiers of cable programming services as a condition of access to one or more tiers of cable programming services.

(b) A cable operator not subject to effective competition may not discriminate between subscribers to the basic service tier and other subscribers with regard to the rates charged for video programming offered on a per-channel or per-program charge basis.

(c) With respect to cable systems not subject to effective competition, prior to October 5, 2002, the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply to any cable system that lacks the capacity to offer basic service and all programming distributed on a per channel or per program basis without also providing other intermediate tiers of service:

(1) By controlling subscriber access to nonbasic channels of service through addressable equipment electronically controlled from a central control point; or

(2) Through the installation, noninstallation, or removal of frequency filters (traps) at the premises of subscribers without other alteration in system configuration or design and without causing degradation in the technical quality of service provided.

(d) With respect to cable systems not subject to effective competition, any retiering of channels or services that is not undertaken in order to accomplish legitimate regulatory, technical, or customer service objectives and that is intended to frustrate or has the effect of frustrating compliance with paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section is prohibited.

[62 FR 6495, Feb. 12, 1997]

Re:You're not married are you?

[cdrudge]

Here is the article article [sfgate.com] about the hay incedent. The lady crying while on the episode is here [wingfieldfans.org].

You can also do a search on Google searches for Tranding Spaces hay [google.com], Trading Spaces cry [google.com], or Pam Herrick [google.com] to find out more about the show.

Things that they don't tell you on the show:
You sign a contract stating what room is to be changed, what can NOT be touched (They ignore this), what you would like (colors, themes, etc). Trading Spaces then assigns a designer (none of which have any formal design education) to do what ever they want, not what you want. Most of the work is done off camera by the crew. Sewing done on camera is just for show...they have a crew to do that. Same with carpentry. The furniture is made super cheap...particle board bookcases come to mind on one show. I just got to the point where I started laughing at the shows. Some had interesting decorations, but most were a joke. You get around $1000 to change the room, but nothing if you don't like it. You are responsibie for carting away trash (they will pay the disposal fee, but it's just a hassle). You also have to put up with that annoying Paige lady. That would be the ultimate deal breaker for me regardless of the rest.

Read the law

[eswierk]

The article refers to a provision of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 [sbca.com] that did not fully take effect until October 2002.

Contrary to what the Slashdot article implies, the provision regulates only "video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis," (e.g. HBO or pay-per-view) not channels like MTV that are offered only as part of a package. Also, it is not clear whether it would apply to an HBO 1+2+3 "package" since technically these are not offered on a per channel basis.

However, for channels that do fall under this provision, the operator is prohibited from discriminating against customers who subscribe only to the rock-bottom basic package, so they must be able to get HBO for $5/month if customers on the super-ultra package can.

I think you've got it wrong...

[C0deM0nkey]

The article does not talk about any of those channels -- it seems the gist of the article is that: if you want a movie channel (Showtime, Starz, HBO, etc.) you do not have to purchase the "basic", "expanded", whatever, package in order to satisfy some sort of pre-requisite before you are allowed to purchase a Premium Movie Channel.

I think you've got it wrong -- it sounds like you'll still get forced to buy the complete "expanded" package if you want ANY of the channels in it.

A Summary of the Section the article talks about

[docwhat]

Here is a summary of the part of the
Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 that is being refered to:

Prohibits (with exceptions) a cable operator from: (1) requiring the subscription to any tier other than the basic service tier as a condition of access to cable programming offered on a per channel or per program basis; or (2) discriminating between subscribers to the basic service tier and other subscribers with respect to rates charged for video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis.

Gotten from: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d102:SN000 12:@@@L&summ2=m&|TOM:/bss/d102query.html|

So, it says that if a channel is offered alone, then the cable company cannot say must buy something else first. However, in the case of (for example) the Home And Garden channel, they don't sell it alone, so you cannot buy it alone.

Cable Companies have actually been doing this for a while, but you have to ask explicitly for it. Even (on occassion) forcing the sales person to talk to their manager.

I would love to buy channels ala cart, though.

Ciao!

Dish Network already does this

[Phreakiture]

For a very large part, Dish Network already does this. They have an service called "Dish Picks" where you select any channels you like at $1.50/month*channel with a $5.00/month minimum. You can also add this service to any other tiered service, forgoing the $5/month minimum (I get two channels this way, in addition to the 150-channel tier).

Not every channel is available a la carte, though, because some content providers (notably Viacomm) won't permit their channels to be broken up this way.

Also, some channels are lumped into subpackages that can be ordered alone. Only want HBO? You can do that. Same for Cinemax. Want just the five "superstations?" Sure! $5/month gives you all five of them.

The factor that has been constraining the cable companies on this front is that the content on their analog cable systems is fundamentally unencrypted. It takes the combination of encryption plus an addressable box in order to implement channels a la carte. Otherwise, the filters and traps needed to make it work would be a nightmare!

Why is this news?

[FleshWound]

I've been able to do this since cable was first introduced in my area (c.1982). It's not only OLD news (probably the oldest ever posted on Slashdot), but it's hardly newworthy to begin with, since it's not financially practical to purchase your channels a la carte unless you only want one. After that, it usually ends up costing more than it would to just buy the package that includes whatever channels you want.

Analog Cable will NEVER be in this format.

[C_Bork]

Having worked for a large Canadian cable company for the last two years, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this will NEVER happen until everything is digital. The way land-based analog cable (First 60 or so channels - everything you can get without a box) currently works is through a filtering system that works like this: You order all the channels : no filters You order a bundel with packs 1 and 2 and basic: the reminaing channels (pack 3) are filtered off. You only want basic: You get all four filters. These filters are done AT YOUR HOME (Inside the Grey CSE's on the side of your houses, in a PED, or on a drop line from an antenna. Each of these filters costs about 5 bucks a piece. So that means at 60 channels, if you only choose to watch CBC, Space and MTV, they have put 57 filters costing about $285 (Cdn. Dollars). Not only is it a cost issue, but these things are pretty inaccurate and can only get a range of channels properly. So if you were selling channel by channel, odds are if you bought one channel, they would have to give you 2 or 3 channels free in order to be able to receive that one channel. Another problem is actually installing the things, working with four color coded filters is a breeze. Working with 60 different filters is going to create some problems. Anyways, there's some insite into the cable industry for ya. Until they get a digital box in every home, this will not happen.

The actual text of the law and what it means

[flibbidyfloo]

OK, here ya go, straight from the Gov (relevant sections only):

CITE

47 USC Sec.543 01/02/01

EXPCITE

TITLE 47 - TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS

CHAPTER 5 - WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION

SUBCHAPTER V-A - CABLE COMMUNICATIONS

Part III - Franchising and Regulation

HEAD

Sec. 543. Regulation of rates

STATUTE (Partial Text)

(7) Components of basic tier subject to rate regulation

(A) Minimum contents

Each cable operator of a cable system shall provide its subscribers a separately available basic service tier to which subscription is required for access to any other tier of service. Such basic service tier shall, at a minimum, consist of the following:

(i) All signals carried in fulfillment of the requirements of sections 534 and 535 of this title.

(ii) Any public, educational, and governmental access programming required by the franchise of the cable system to be provided to subscribers.

(iii) Any signal of any television broadcast station that is provided by the cable operator to any subscriber, except a signal which is secondarily transmitted by a satellite carrier beyond the local service area of such station.

(B) Permitted additions to basic tier

A cable operator may add additional video programming signals or services to the basic service tier. Any such additional signals or services provided on the basic service tier shall be provided to subscribers at rates determined under the regulations prescribed by the Commission under this subsection.

(8) Buy-through of other tiers prohibited

(A) Prohibition A cable operator may not require the subscription to any tier other than the basic service tier required by paragraph (7) as a condition of access to video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis. A cable operator may not discriminate between subscribers to the basic service tier and other subscribers with regard to the rates charged for video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis.

(B) Exception; limitation

The prohibition in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a cable system that, by reason of the lack of addressable converter boxes or other technological limitations, does not permit the operator to offer programming on a per channel or per program basis in the same manner required by subparagraph

(A). This subparagraph shall not be available to any cable operator after -

(i) the technology utilized by the cable system is modified or improved in a way that eliminates such technological limitation; or

(ii) 10 years after October 5, 1992, subject to subparagraph (C).

(C) Waiver: If, in any proceeding initiated at the request of any cable operator, the Commission determines that compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (A) would require the cable operator to increase its rates, the Commission may, to the extent consistent with the public interest, grant such cable operator a waiver from such requirements for such specified period as the Commission determines reasonable and appropriate.

--

Note that this the 1992 "Act" is really only a set of ammendments to the original Title 47 (Telecom act of 1934).

The relevant portion is here:

"A cable operator may not require the subscription to any tier other than the basic service tier required by paragraph (7) as a condition of access to video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis."

This means that it only applies to premium and pay-per-view channels i.e. "offered on a per channel or per program basis."

Paragraph 7 also is vague enough about the "basic" service they have to offer that AT&T (my provider) can use their "Standard" package ($37.50/mo) as the base. I called them and they said "Sure, buy the $37 standard package and we'll sell ya HBO ala carte." But he wouldn't sell me HBO on top of the $12 "Basic" package, which may or may not be legal.

Regardless, this means diddly for me, because I couldn't care less about HBO. I just want Comedy Central and Sci-Fi with my broadcast stations.