Is alacart even feasable?

[whatchel1]

This where tvropro and I have disagreed several times. It never really worked in the "C-band" days. You had to go thru a middleman in all cases and they basically doubled the price. You could only "cherry pick" from a few of the channels. A la carte is a nice idea that's it.

 

[tvropro]

This where tvropro and I have disagreed several times. It never really worked in the "C-band" days. You had to go thru a middleman in all cases and they basically doubled the price. You could only "cherry pick" from a few of the channels. A la carte is a nice idea that's it.

Lets see back in c band analog days I ran ala cart only. The model worked great. I could buy one channel for a whole year for $5.00. I still have some old NPS price sheets from back in the day here I need to find them scan them and post. There were not only a few channels, EVERYTHING was available ala carte Including big ones like ESPN. Pizza and Cable could do the same if they wanted, but the world now is all about make as much as you can as fast as you can. Have you pulled up to a gas pump or gone food shopping lately Tv is no different..

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

If it worked so great then why is it not offered anymore?

If Ala Carte was to exist today most of the niche channels we have today would not exist, and the costs per channel would be very high. I don't see Ala Carte making a come back.

 

[tvropro]

Even Cband was flawed from the beginning as you still had to go through a middleman that had thier hands in your pocket. Just for pushing a button to turn on the channel. 50 cents to them and 25 cents to the actual channel providing the content!. Now, if that same thing happened today it would be $4.00 to charlie and 50 cents to the channel owner!

When I started out in C band in 1987 I could buy and did direct from HBO, Showtime, Disney, Superstar Connection etc. They also sold packs such as Showtime Ultraview which included all your basics like ESPN, USA, CNN, etc. Prices were dirt cheap compared to even cable at the time.

Then providers like NPS Netlink Turnervision and many more got in the picture. You could buy 1 channel if you wanted for 1 month or 3,6, or 12. A year of HBO and Cinemax was only $99.00 now people pay more than that for 1 month of pizza & cable.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

When I started out in C band in 1987 I could buy and did direct from HBO, Showtime, Disney, Superstar Connection etc. They also sold packs such as Showtime Ultraview which included all your basics like ESPN, USA, CNN, etc. Prices were dirt cheap compared to even cable at the time.

Yup this is true. Those were satellites true Glory Days!

 

[tvropro]

If it worked so great then why is it not offered anymore?

Ala carte was never liked by the cable cartel. In fact they hated us c banders since they wanted to be the only game in town. TCI was forced to provide programming to C band subscribers if you lived in a TCI cable area and you wanted to buy from them. The cable providers always packaged and eventually got their way and took us down with the help of pizza. Ala Carte won't come back now unless legislation is passed and cable & pizza are forced to provide it. If that happened the providers will sell it at an ungodly rate to comply and kill it off before it even gets rolling. Gary Bourgois (God rest his soul) used to say the only winning move is not to play when it came to subscription tv. Lately with the way things are pricing etc IMO the man was right.

 

[tvropro]

Yup this is true. Those were satellites true Glory Days!

You got that right. I'm glad I was able to experience it.

 

[inazsully]

No. I'm not joking. The reason people are jumping down my throat is they are only reading the header. My question asks, if a la cart was your only option what do you think the charge from Dish would be for your 12 favorite channels. Where has that ever been asked before? I'm not asking for reasons why a la cart won't work. My question is based on the assumption that packages are not available and how that wold effect the cost of your (Fav 12.). Granted most of do not have needed pricing information to make a serious guess but our imagination allows for semi educated guessing. It's just an exercise in light hearted banter.

 

[tvropro]

My question asks, if a la cart was your only option what do you think the charge from Dish would be for your 12 favorite channels. .

They would charge as much as the market would bear.

 

[pabeader]

and i would gladly pay it.

 

[Steve Mehs]

[

When I started out in C band in 1987 I could buy and did direct from HBO, Showtime, Disney, Superstar Connection etc. They also sold packs such as Showtime Ultraview which included all your basics like ESPN, USA, CNN, etc. Prices were dirt cheap compared to even cable at the time.

Then providers like NPS Netlink Turnervision and many more got in the picture. You could buy 1 channel if you wanted for 1 month or 3,6, or 12. A year of HBO and Cinemax was only $99.00 now people pay more than that for 1 month of pizza & cable.

That was 1987. We sit here today, nearly two and a half decades later. Time to move on. Obviously a la cate was not all sunshine and lollipops or it would still be around today.

What many forget is back in the early days, Dish offered an a la carte package called Dish Pix. Pick any 10 channels you want (with some limitations of course) for $15/month, and $1.50 per channel/month for any additional channels you wanted. What person would find value in that when at the time Americas Top 40 was $20/month and offered 4 times the amount of channels. That right there shows how expensive a la carte would be, and we’re talking 1997. 10 Channels for $15 or 40 channel for $20.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Steve you can be harsh at time, but your on the money here. There is a reason why Ala carte is no longer around and you hit the nail on the head of why.

Unfortunately C Bands glory days are now far past us and its time to move on. (And I have 2 big dishes myself.)

 

[Ronnie-]

[

That was 1987. We sit here today, nearly two and a half decades later. Time to move on. Obviously a la cate was not all sunshine and lollipops or it would still be around today.

What many forget is back in the early days, Dish offered an a la carte package called Dish Pix. Pick any 10 channels you want (with some limitations of course) for $15/month, and $1.50 per channel/month for any additional channels you wanted. What person would find value in that when at the time Americas Top 40 was $20/month and offered 4 times the amount of channels. That right there shows how expensive a la carte would be, and we’re talking 1997. 10 Channels for $15 or 40 channel for $20.

Very good point Steve.

 

[tvropro]

Steve you can be harsh at time, but your on the money here. There is a reason why Ala carte is no longer around and you hit the nail on the head of why.

Unfortunately C Bands glory days are now far past us and its time to move on. (And I have 2 big dishes myself.)

Scott when did you get into satellite the big dish that is? Did you get to enjoy it's heydays.

 

[whatchel1]

Ala carte was never liked by the cable cartel. In fact they hated us c banders since they wanted to be the only game in town. TCI was forced to provide programming to C band subscribers if you lived in a TCI cable area and you wanted to buy from them. The cable providers always packaged and eventually got their way and took us down with the help of pizza. Ala Carte won't come back now unless legislation is passed and cable & pizza are forced to provide it. If that happened the providers will sell it at an ungodly rate to comply and kill it off before it even gets rolling. Gary Bourgois (God rest his soul) used to say the only winning move is not to play when it came to subscription tv. Lately with the way things are pricing etc IMO the man was right.

BTW Gary B. ,Shawn Kenny & I were friends back then. I got into it before HBO was scrambled. Does that give an idea how long I've been playing w/it?

 

[tvropro]

BTW Gary B. ,Shawn Kenny & I were friends back then. I got into it before HBO was scrambled. Does that give an idea how long I've been playing w/it?

Cool, I didn't have a system when HBO was ITC But knew people who did. Shawn Kenny fought for C band a lot, he was great.

 

[whatchel1]

Cool, I didn't have a system when HBO was ITC But knew people who did. Shawn Kenny fought for C band a lot, he was great.

It was really unbelievable when he died I had just talked to him on the phone the day before. Tuned into Boresight and Karen was pretty much doing a eulogy.

 

[navychop]

Well, FTA does appear doomed, at least in this country. But maybe it can resurrect. After all, isn't it still popular in Europe and the mid-east? Perhaps a few changes in law will help it. But I doubt it will ever match the pizza dish, if for no other reasons than convenience and space taken up.

-pizza dish user

 

[Kb Cool]

When I started out in C band in 1987 I could buy and did direct from HBO, Showtime, Disney, Superstar Connection etc. They also sold packs such as Showtime Ultraview which included all your basics like ESPN, USA, CNN, etc. Prices were dirt cheap compared to even cable at the time.

Then providers like NPS Netlink Turnervision and many more got in the picture. You could buy 1 channel if you wanted for 1 month or 3,6, or 12. A year of HBO and Cinemax was only $99.00 now people pay more than that for 1 month of pizza & cable.

Wow, i wasn't aware of that. I didn't get into until '94. And it was NPS, Turner and maybe a couple others who were in control and how did they manage to weasle there way into the game? Did HBO and others not want to deal with it any longer?

 

[yaz96]

and i would gladly pay it.

$120 for 12 channels? That's what it could be.