I’m failry certain we’ll never get to à la carte cable. Certainly not in the next several years… given the current content hegemony that requires channels on certain tiers and/or bundling of multiple properties. Having said that, industry has taken notice as consumers look to exert more control over their content choices and seek more value from their entertainment expenditures. And Verizon announced a new permutation of FiOS… that, interestingly, most closely resembles Sling TV.
Double play plans start at $55/month with both existing or new Verizon FiOS customers choosing the data speeds they want, including the base 34 Custom HD channel lineup, with the possibility to add “channel packs” for $10/pop. Triple play, for voice, is also an option. The new plans do not require a 2-year agreement, as so many other FiOS packages do, but the most interesting aspect is, of course, the ability to more finely tune the stations you receive.
While ESPN has made some noise about their offerings not being made available within the core Custom HD FiOS package, I’ve been on Select HD (without ESPN) since last August. After spending more than I’d like buying BBC America content from Amazon Instant, instead of upgrading from Preferred HD to Extreme HD at a cost increase of $15/month, I dropped down to Select HD to pick up BBCA… by giving up ESPN (and some other channels). Which brings me to the point of this post: NONE of the new packs include BBC America nor BBC News. So, although my monthly bill wouldn’t go up with a new $75/mo two-pack 50/50 Custom HD package, I’d lose one channel I feel pretty strongly about.
Anyone else do the math?