Let’s say you’re presently paying $30 a month for a basic tier of 30 cable channels. Then due to … reasons … you cable supplier switches to ala carte pricing. You can have any cable channel you want, for $1 a month. Minimum of 30 channels to get it at this price. You want just 20 channels, you pay $1.50 per channel. You want just ten, the price is $2. You want less than ten, whassamatta you? Why you buy-a cable inna first place dummy?
NBC for The Office, Scrubs, and SNL
Fox for 24 and Family Guy
ABC for Grey’s Anatomy
Comedy Central for Colbert Report, South Park, Daily Show, Scrubs reruns, and random stand-up
FX for The Shield
MSNBC for Keith Olbermann and news
ESPN for sports updates
TCM for old movies
Showtime for Dexter (even though I don’t pay for it currently)
Cartoon Network, but only for Venture Bros. season 3 when it starts, which is probably a long time away.
CNBC
CNBC World
Bloomberg
CNN International
CNN
C Span
C Span II
C Span III
ESPN
ESPN II
ESPN U
Fox Sports Southwest
The Weather Channel
DCTV (Dallas Community Television)
Turner Classic Movies
CBS
NBC
ABC
FOX
TBS
WGN
KTLA
KTTV
KCOP
KVCR
KCET
ESPN
ESPN2
FSW
FSW2
BBCAmerica
HBO
Food Channel
SCIFI
Travel Channel
TNT
CNN
Comedy Central
Military Channel
History Channel
FSN
FSN Prime Ticket
FOX News Channel
A&E
USA
TVLand
Spike
FX
ABC Family
Animal Planet
History
Biography
National Geographic
Sci-Fi
TVLand
TBS
BCCAmerica
TNT
CNN
Comedy Central
A&E
Military Channel (only because my Mr. Sycorax loves it) and, last but not least,
HBO - BUT ONLY IF THEY BRING BACK DEADWOOD!!!
The Big Networks (ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX)
ESPN
ESPN2
ESPN News
ESPN Classic
ESPN U
NESN (New England Sports Network, Bruins and Red Sox games among other things)
FSNE (Fox Sports, Celtics games among others)
FSC (Fox Soccer Channel)
The NFL Network (can’t get now because of much-publicized price battle)
CSTV (College Sports Television)
CPTV (Connecticut Public Television, because they cover a lot of UConn sports stuff that no one else does)
TNT (NBA coverage)
Pretty much any channel they offered me that ran a lot of football of either kind, or any other sports I might potentially care about
Sci-Fi (solely for Battlestar)
Comedy Central
Cartoon Network
Food Network
CNN
MSNBC
CNBC
CNBC World (can’t get right now but would love it)
Bloomberg
Game Show Network (which I can’t get where I am now, but used to have, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with late-night Millionaire re-runs)
I guess HBO and Showtime, as much for all of this original programming that I hear is good as for the movies
…so basically I’d get rid of most of those silly channels that come in the middle, that great amalgamation of reality TV and niche programming between where the sports stations end and the news stations begin on my particular cable service
ARGH! How could I have forgotten Food Network?!?! Can’t go without Rachael, Giada, Nigella, Alton, Mario, Emeril, Paula, Morimoto, Tyler, and all those barbecue competitions!
I could go for a long, long time with nothing but PBS. My TiVo is full of Nova, Frontline, Masterpiece Theater, and American Experience, and it does me just fine.
Second would be HBO, which I don’t have now because it would take upgrading to digital cable and some huge rate hike to get. But I really like the HBO series like Deadwood and Sopranos and all those, and would gladly pay a few bucks a month to get them if I could.
Next comes a few like Food Network, Bravo, and SciFi. I occasionally watch them, and I’d pay a buck a month for 'em.
After that? Nothing really comes to mind. For all I watch TV, the above would keep me busy I think.
ABC, CBS, & ABC - but only for the sports coverage as I watch almost none of their other programming.
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU
CNN, Headline News & Fox News
Food Network
Comedy Central
Bravo (Top Chef junkie)
HBO (full package)
Encore
Weather Channel (can’t survive hurricane season without seeing some goof trying to stand out in the crap to show us how bad it is)
Discovery
Spike
TLC
I know the Mrs would be unhappy for I have left off all CSI and Law & Order programming (inset maniacal laughter here)
All five broadcast networks.
TBS, TNT, FX.
CNN, MSNBC, Headline News, Fox News.
SciFi.
Cartoon (for Adult swim and for my kids).
Comedy Central.
Disney, Toon Disney, Nick, Noggin, Boomerang (for the kids)
CSTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, Fox Sports
NFL (I don’t currently have it)
E!
I’d also like the following currently available HD versions of some of the above: The big Four Broadcast Networks, ESPN.
I’m going to be a bit pissed off if my “ala carte” has to include the network channels. Those should be free IMHO, so I’m not listing ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, or WGN. Also free should be the Comcast channels, like Comcast Sports Net.
Also, as someone who has participated in purchasing ad time on local cable I’d like to be reassured that the rates won’t skyrocket just so my ad isn’t only shown on the Old Nun Mumbling The Rosary channel that all of 8 people bought.
So, then:
MSNBC
Discovery
Food Network
Military Channel
Fox Sports
ESPN 1 through all of them
MTV
VH1
Comedy Central
Cartoon Network
Nick
Outdoors Channel
TBS
TNT
FX
Fox Soccer
MTV2
National Geographic
History
A&E
All the HBO’s, Cinemaxes, Showtimes, STARZ, etc.
Playboy
Weather
