[ NNSquad ] Why Apple Can't Kill Cable

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

Why Apple Can't Kill Cable

http://bit.ly/5ZAIbq  (Hollywood Reporter)

I'll note again here the discomfort I feel whenever I see loud
proclamations about the "evils" of cable channel bundling.  Clearly
there needs to be more subscriber flexibility in this area, but I
can't eliminate my concern that a total "a la carte" system would
undermine the funding and availability of many fine speciality
channels (e.g. History International, Science, channels dedicated to
Russian and Africa, etc.) in favor of a nearly limitless palette of
lucrative sports and premium movie channels.  Many of the lesser
watched channels probably could not survive without subsidization
related to the mass audience favorites.

I've noticed a significant expansion recently in speciality channels
on TWC since they got Switched Digital Video (SDV) "more or less"
working.  I'll bet that some of them only have a relative handful of
viewers at any given time -- but many are still well worth watching.
That diversity is to my mind a good thing.

--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator