A few months ago I announced that within a year and a half, Canadian cable companies throughout the entire country will be offering their customers a la carte programming packages, meaning that they can choose whatever channels they wish to watch and not pay for the ones they don't. Given the huge amounts of crap that we get to put with on the various specialty channels that we have up here, I was all for the idea and can't wait to try it. However, there were a couple of people on here who believed that if it were offered in the US, it wouldn't go over very well.

Last month, Variety magazine offered to test that theory out by asking a number of Americans in a detailed survey the following question: If a la carte programming was offered in the US, which channels would you watch and which ones would you leave out? The results may or may not surprise you depending on how closely you follow sports:



From Variety - June 17, 2015 (http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/a-la-carte-these-are-the-tv-channels-people-would-actually-pay-for-1201520900/)


According to the survey, the most popular choice is ABC, picked by 66.7 per cent of the people surveyed as a channel that they would pay for in an a la carte package. The next most popular choice was the Discovery Channel at 62% followed closely by CBS and NBC at just under 60%. Barely making the top 20 was the former all-sports powerhouse ESPN with only a 35.7% approval rating. This should be no surprise to anyone who has seen ESPN lately, since it has now become a shadow of its former self (or so that's what I've heard because I've never had it.) The results are fully illustrated in the following graphic:


Survey Results (https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/digitalsmiths-unbundling-survey.jpg)


A couple of other things that I noticed about the survey:

The NBA, NFL, and MLB networks were all listed as options but not the NHL Network. More typical American ignorance at work!

None of the so-called diginets were mentioned. That is, no Antenna TV or Me-TV or COZI, etc. I'm sure all of them would have done well in the survey. Now if someone had bothered to ask me, these are the channels that I would have picked:


1-4 The Big 4 Networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX East and West feeds

5. The NHL Network
6. NBC Sports Network
7. Antenna TV
8. ME-TV
9. TV Land
10. Turner Classic Movies
11. Get TV
12. This TV
13. AMC

13-20 All of the superstations except TBS, TNT, and Peachtree:

WGN, WPIX, WSBK, KTLA, WWOR, plus any I might have forgot.

I am an American, but have not lived in the USA since 2001, so I am a bit behind the times.

Question, in most places, aren't the cable/satellite/digital companies and the Internet provider the same? I have read that these companies will not provide Internet only, the customer has to subscribe to cable also. Dunno.

If I could have Internet only, most all my television would be online. Basically, I am content with the local network channels. I am not a huge sports fan (love College Football though), and I don't need TV Land if I have Hulu or YouTube. I have never liked HBO, Showtime, etc. The one show I do like from Showtime, I just watch online for free from a website......

www.watchseries.to I have lived in China for 14 years, and this is how I watch new TV episodes. I know other Chinese websites that show episodes hours after the show comes on. Without commercials.

Back around 1999, I had a house that had DISH Network. I had basic cable, but no local TV stations. This is what I wanted! I don't know what the (stupid) reason was, and their suggestion was for me to buy "rabbit ears" for the TV, I mean WTF Dish, why don't you solve your issues with the local affiliates? Rabbit ears did not work and I wanted to dismantle that ugly fake dish off my roof.

Television is WONDERFUL now. About a hundred cable channels, TV shows "On Demand", the Internet with You Tube etc. 24/7 news. If you "miss" a show, no problem, watch it at your convenience. If you don't like current TV shows, there is 65 years worth of reruns. I am watching Kojak now. When it was first on, I was a little kid, so all the episodes are new to me. Can't beat it.

Hockey is not that popular in most of the United States. Most popular with people from the Northeast or Upper Midwest USA. Sunbelt cities like Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Phoenix (and LA) have teams because there are enough Northeastern/Midwestern transpanted people living there who follow the sport.

That's my explanation.
Some city like Dallas can fill a 20,000 seat arena, but probably an NHL package would be a dud.

I have Directv and I pay for MANY channels that I have absolutely no use for.

If a program came to the US that would allow us to pick only the channels we want, I'd pick these (in no particular order):

ABC
NBC
CBS
FOX
My Network TV
Antenna TV
MeTV
Laff
COZI
GSN
WGN
ABC Family
Hallmark
TV One
Centric
Lifetime
Lifetime Movie Network
Logo
ID
Disney Channel
Boomerang

I'm surprised that PBS and NGC are high on the list, not about USA, their programming is shadow of former self, and people really love those trash reality shows on TLC.

Antenna TV- with all of Antenna's schedule airing, no affiliate preemptions for baseball. Also, the full closing credits would be restored.
Me-TV- I've never been able to see this station as Fort Wayne doesn't have an affiliate. again with 100% of the lineup airing, no preemptions.
Decades- another station I don't have. would be worth it just for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and there are other shows I'd like.
Cozi- also don't have this station, would be worth it for The Dick Van Dyke Show (doesn't air anywhere else). Also, is this the Adam-12/Dragnet station now? would be even more worth it for them
Netflix- with the same commercial free shows it offers online, but able to watch on my TV
UP
POP
CBS
ABC
FOX
NBC
My Network TV
ABC Family
BBC America
Encore Classic
GSN
WGN
TNT
FXX- with the complete series of Mad About You offered on demand instead of just 5 episodes a week
Hallmark
Hallmark Movies and Mysteries
ION
INSP
Disney
TCM
TBS
WE and Sundance solely for Law and Order marathons
Lifetime solely for Frasier
TLC only if they renew Outrageous 911
And I would keep my commercial free music stations.

Yeah, those Variety poll results are a bit depressing, for the most part. If they truly represent the greater U.S. opinion on what channels are the most worth keeping, then it seems the overall population deserves the largely-lousy programming it currently gets in abundance.

If I got to choose my own ala cart channels these days, the list would be pretty short:

1. TCM (the only channel I currently watch with any regularity)
2. Encore-Westerns
3. FX (for a couple of original series only)
4. AMC (ditto)
5. El Rey (I'd watch this more often if it was commercial-free and in HD)
6. CBS (only for The Amazing Race)
7. ABC (only for Battlebots, if it returns after this Summer's 6-episode try-out)

If cable/satellite feeds of over-the-air digital sub-nets are added to the mix:

8. MeTV
9. Heroes & Icons
10. Decades
11. Cozi
12. Antenna
13. The Works
14. Grit

If I was asked the same question 15-25 years ago, the list would've been much longer, before most of these channels devolved into worthlessness:

1. TCM
2. AMC
3. Encore Mystery Channel
4. Encore Westerns Channel
5. Encore Action Channel
6. Encore
7. IFC - Independent Film Channel
8. Cinemax
9. TV Land
10. Nick @ Nite
11. GoodLife TV (never got it, wished I had)
12. Sci-Fi Channel
13. TNT
14. FXM/Fox Movie Channel
15. Cartoon Network
16. Boomerang
17. Game Show Network
18. BBC-America
19. Trio
20. Discovery Channel
21. The Learning Channel
22. The Science Channel
23. The History Channel
24. Fox News
25. The Weather Channel
26. The Travel Channel
27. The Disney Channel (for the old 'Vault Disney' stuff)

That said, probably 75-80% of my TV viewing these days is via my DVD/Blu-ray collection, and streaming from Netflix and YouTube.

My list would be:

1: CBS
2: ABC
3: NBC
4: My Network TV
5: FOX
6: The CW
7: NFL Network
8: NHL Network
9: ESPN
10: Comcast SportsNet
11: Discover
12: TLC
13: History
14: FOX News
15: CNN
16: MSNBC
17: ESPN 2
18: ESPN Classic

Sal
Just last week there was an item in the news that more Canadians then ever are cutting the chord. I'm sure you must have read that as well.

The reason I'm mentioning this is that I am hoping that speeds up the A La Carte Channels and the wait won't be as long.

Here's my a-la carte...

TCM (They now have monthly Classic Disney cartoons/movies)
Boomerang (I think they show "The Looney Tunes Show")
VH1 Classic (I think they still show videos)
The Weather Channel (Yes...I can watch this station all day)!
TV One (When they air "Gimme a Break")
TBS (At least they keep good shows)
Hallmark Channel (They at least keep good shows too)
Laff
Cozi
Antenna TV
MeTV
Buzzr
Teletoon Retro (I wish this is available in the US)!

I wish there's shows on demand for any show that aired for one ep to 100 eps.

Sal
Just last week there was an item in the news that more Canadians then ever are cutting the chord. I'm sure you must have read that as well.

The reason I'm mentioning this is that I am hoping that speeds up the A La Carte Channels and the wait won't be as long.


I read things like that all the time and it doesn't surprise me one bit. The major networks generally do a good job in assembling their primetime lineups but the specialty and digital channels are so bad that, other than certain sports and movie channels, I'm not sure I would subscribe to any of them unless they either undergo some drastic changes---like a rebrand---or have the weaker ones disappear altogether once the viewers get to decide which ones they really want. To give you some idea of how weak they are, have a look at this link which I wrote earlier this year and compare it to what is being offered in the US and you might become a cord-cutter as well:

Sitcoms Currently Airing On Canadian TV - June 2, 2015 (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=337264)

I'm not sure if an improved overall product will result in the speeding up of the pick and pay process. Right now, the general timetable works like this:

The cable companies have to offer their basic package costing no more than $25 a month by March of 2016 and the a la carte package by December 2016. By that time, I would also expect the alternative TV landscape (antennas, Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Internet, etc.) to change as well so the major cable companies (Bell, Rogers, Shaw) would have to get very creative to give their customers what they want or risk significant losses. Frankly, I don't think they have the brains to do it!

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
FX
Food Network

Eh, not much. Over the past year I've watched a lot of Netflix, but not a ton of live television.

I forgot Food Network...I watch that station a lot when I have cable....