here the cable channel lineup for the san carlos,AZ area

http://www.scatui.net/PDF/cableChannels.pdf

I've seen worse and a lot less then the Skill Centre line up.

Iceberg has some line ups to check out from around his neck of the woods. You think these are bad.

No wonder D* and E* do so well out West

Well, how about a cable system that ONLY offers locals/PEG channels & NOTHING else, but they DO also offer cable modem???

There actually is such a system, it's out in the St. Joseph, MO DMA. (can't remember if it is actually IN St.Joe, or on the outskirts) I read about it in a trade mag - the system, with TV subs declining more & more, decided that since they were SO small town, they could just NOT compete any longer against DBS AND the rising costs from the programmers, as well as a costly digital video upgrade.

So, going on their one lone strength of being the ONLY broadband provider in the area, (no DSL here) they decided to remove ALL satellite/national programming from their system & offer ONLY broadband service with the locals INCLUDED in the price. Their sub base actually went WAY up & because they did NOT have the expenses associated with providing video service, (rising prog costs, equip costs/maintenance, etc) their profits went UP as well. So, instead of trying to compete with DBS & LOOSE, they offer themselves as a COMPLIMENT to DBS & making money.

And, when you stop to consider that E* will NO longer be able to do SV, which also means they'll probably be skipping the ONE network DMA, & that D* doesn't offer St.Joe at all, they'll probably keep suceeding on this business model, since they CAN provide ALL necessary St.Joe & Kansas City locals.