# What cable channels would you pay to see? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798 "2006-11-25T23:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/1 "2006-11-25T23:55:08Z")
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? Channels above 30 will cost .75 each. Channels above 50, .50 each. Here’s the flip side – you pick the channel. You don’t want it, don’t buy it, you won’t be billed for it. What’s your lineup gonna look like? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/2 "2006-11-26T00:06:49Z")
All the cable news I can get (even Fox) – I enjoy breaking news, and flipping from channel to channel to see who’s got what. All the cable sports I can get (I hate it when there’s a game I want to see on TV, but I don’t get the channel). Comedy Central. And that’s about it. I’d pay $30/month for that, I think. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/3 "2006-11-26T00:14:25Z")
Gotta have my Sci-Fi Channel. I would pay plenty extra if they’d offer a commercial-free version in HD. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/4 "2006-11-26T00:34:13Z")
HGTV BBCA Comedy Central A&E CW (or whatever they’re calling the WB now) History and Discovery Biography ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/5 "2006-11-26T01:02:05Z")
My lineup will look like this: 1. SciFi Channel (Creature feature movies, Eureka, battlestar Galactica, just general SF goodness.) 2. Comedy Channel (South Park, Daily Show, Colbert Report) 3. Cinemax (Skinamax) 4. Discovery Channel (Mythbusters) 5. Cartoon Network (Futurama, to a much lesser extent, the rest of Adult Swim) 6. The Western Channel (Westerns are boring and predictable as drama, but they make very pretty background stuff to glance at while you work) 7. TCM (for Mrs. Evil Captor) 8. The Weather Channel (see above) 9. Bravo (for the Runway Project, for the wife) 10. Game Show network (for the kid) 11. ABC – just to stay in touch 12. NBC-- just to stay in touch 13. CBS – just to stay in touch 14. Showtime (for Showtime Beyond, which does a lot of SF and F) 15. The WB – just to stay in touch Oh, that’ll do for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/6 "2006-11-26T01:56:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/7 "2006-11-26T02:32:11Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/8 "2006-11-26T02:53:50Z")
Let’s see… 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 $34.25 a month. Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/9 "2006-11-26T22:12:15Z")
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!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/10 "2006-11-26T23:20:47Z")
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 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/11 "2006-11-26T23:43:02Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/12 "2006-11-27T00:08:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/13 "2006-11-27T01:29:40Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/14 "2006-11-27T04:11:35Z")
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. That is 32$ and I’d take it to the bank. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/15 "2006-11-27T04:50:40Z")
Shoot, forgot the news channels: 1. CNN 2. BBC America 3. MSNBC And while I’m at it 1. Playboy 2. WGN (for AFV and South Park reruns) I wish the History Channel actually did history other than WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Sherwin\_Nuland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sherwin\_Nuland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherwin_Nuland)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/16 "2006-11-27T07:13:11Z")
Sci-fi, Comedy Central, and all the news channels, ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/17 "2006-11-27T19:15:55Z")
[PBS Sprout](http://www.sproutletsgrow.com/) has to be on my list. There would be armed uprising at _casa de zoid_ if PBS Sprout were ever to be unavailable for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/18 "2006-11-28T20:58:58Z")
Sci-Fi, Comedy Central, TBS, Cartoon Network, History Channel, FX, and the UHF stations. That’s all I’d ever need. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/19 "2006-11-28T21:50:10Z")
What, no Golf Channel? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798/20 "2006-11-28T22:12:36Z")
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 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cable-channels-would-you-pay-to-see/381798.md?page=2)