Cable TV ala carte -- What would your dial look like?

[KurtNYC]

From time to time, people have proposed that cable TV be un-bundled. In other words, you could pick your own channels and have only those on your dial.

Imagine paying say $20/month for any 15 channels in the world.

What are some of the channels you would you pick?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. BBC world news

News World International
HBO
The Comedy Channel
the Sci Fi Channel

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Here's my list:

DIY
HGTV
Discovery
TLC
COURT TV
SPIKE (so that I could get CSI reruns)
A&E
CSPAN & CSPAN II
Comedy Channel
BBC
History Channel

[NightHawk63]

3. Hmmm....

1. HBO (Gots to have my Soprano's, Deadwood, The Wire, etc...)
2. Showtime (Dead Like Me, Huff, BullShit....and yes Family Business)3. Discovery
4. BBC America (news & the Office)
5. Fox TV (not news, love the Simpsons, Arrested Development & 24)
6. NBC (West Wing & all the flavors of Law & Order)
7. CBS (60 Minutes, CSI, Without a Trace)
8. ESPN
9. FX (love the Shield & Nip Tuck)
10. USA (Law & Order re-runs) :)

That's all I need.

[NightHawk63]

5. Damn....how could I forget

11. Comedy Central (I'd go insane with the Daily Show)

[Occulus]

4. My list:

Sci-Fi
Discovery
Animal Planet
FoodTV
A&E
TNT
TechTV
C-SPAN 1 & 2
TLC
Comedy Central
National Geographic
Game Show Network
Cartoon Network

I refuse to even watch network television. I abandoned them a looong time ago, and haven't looked back once.

[SoCalDem]

6. The REAL BBC (not BBC America)

would be there for starters.. I would actually prefer to pay by the actual SHOW.. Lot 'o Crap on most stations.. I only watch

Gilmore Girls (not the reruns though)
2 1/2 Men (fluff but I love the housekeeper & the kid)
Deadwood
Fat Actress
Desperate Housewives
Dave Letterman
The Daily Show
Dead Like Me (THE BASTARDS CANCELLED IT )
Various Law and Orders
Cold Case ( I like the blonde woman and her partner)
HGTV remodeling & clean-your-house shows (hope springs eternal)
ER( until it ends..which will be soon..they kind of jumped the shark)

[Kellanved]

7. Hmm

ARD
ARD extra
Parliament Channel
All 9 German regional public stations
Phoenix (German C-Span)
ZDF
ZDF Doku
Arte
BBC Prime
BBC World
Deutsche Welle
C-SPAN
Euronews

[KurtNYC]

8. Mine

BBC (real British version)
Channel 4 (from the UK also - SuperNanny, Simpsons, Arrested Development)
Comedy Central
the Food Network
NY1
Bravo
CSPAN 1 & 2
CBC (Canada)
CTV (also Canadian)
IFC
CBS (Great Race)
HBO

[Dave Sund]

9. Here...

1. HBO (The Wire, Sopranos, Deadwood, Real Time, etc.)
2. FX (The Shield, Nip Tuck, etc.)
3. Comedy Central (Daily Show, South Park)
4. ESPN
5. ESPN2
6. Fox Sports Northwest (Seattle Mariners)
7. NBC (The West Wing)
8. ABC (Lost, Alias, Monday Night Football)
9. CBS (March Madness, NFL)
10. FOX (24, Arrested Development, Family Guy, American Dad, MLB, NFL)
11. History
12. TNT
13. ESPNU
14. CNN (Gotta have a news channel in there)
15. Bravo (West Wing reruns)

I'd probably add ten more if I could.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. I am so desperate for this option!!!

I pay for DISH and use maybe a quarter of the channels. :mad:

My choices would be:

BBCAmerica
Comedy Central (for Jon and no other reason)
TCM
HBO
Animal Planet
CNN (sometimes I find them useful)
HGTV
Food Network
All the Discoveries
A&E
History Channel
My local stations (including all three PBS)
TV Land
Sundance
IFC
Bravo
CSPANs


...and that would probably be it.

[progmom]

ours

noggin
nick jr
pbs
hbo
espn
mtv hits
vh1 soul
fox sports (for the tigers games)
turner classic movies
comedy central

[cmf]

11. I wish

Right now I get the most basic cable, because the antenna reception where I live sucks. Just the networks, Discovery, Weather Channel and a smattering of sports and shopping networks. I would love to have a cafeteria cable plan, because there are only a few channels that I miss from when I had cable.

I would get ABC, NBC and Fox, because I watch one show on each network regularly (LOST, ER, and 24).

I would also want Food Network, HGTV, TLC, all for their lifestyle shows. I would get Oxygen, Lifetime, and MTV for their mindless entertainment offerings on weekends. And I would get Showtime, HBO, TBS and TNT for movies. ETA Comedy Central - I forgot about that one.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. My 15 channels would be

(assuming that I already got the broadcast channels)

1. HBO
2. The real BBC
3. Sundance
4. IFC
5. the real CBC (now that Newsworld International is scheduled to be replaced)
6. TV Japan
7. Comedy Channel
8. History International
9. Discovery Science
10. USA
11. Turner Classic Movies
12. Ovation
13. International Channel
and I really can't think of 15...

[mcscajun]

13. Okay...here's my list...a little on the heavy side.

'cause 15 just isn't quite enough. So I included some 'bundles' in my count.

WNET - NY Thirteen - PBS
Discovery -- all of 'em
Food Network - gotta have it!
Bravo -- "Inside the Actors Studio" and West Wing reruns.
BBC America - I Don't GET This Now! I Want It! Waaaah!
Comedy Central - Can't do without Jon Stewart and South Park
Travel Channel
Encore/Starz -- all of 'em
Independent Film Channel
WLIW's "Create"
Biography
Sundance
The Learning Channel
TNT -- okay, I'm a sucker for reruns of ER, NYPD Blue, and Law & Order.
TCM - Turner's got all the classic movies AMC USED to show. I don't get this channel! WAAAAAH!!!!
HBO -- all of 'em (in case you can't tell yet, I'm a Movie Junkie!)

[silverpatronus]

14. these and a dvd player would set me for life

HBO
BBC world
BBC america
TNT
USA
NBC
the WB
A&E
VH1
ABC
starz

[mondo joe]

15. Homes, food and the mafia for me please

HGTV
Food Network
TLC
CSPAN
CSPAN II
Comedy Channel
BBC America
HBO
IFC
Bravo
ABC
NBC
CBS
PBS

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

16. My list

HBO (for the shows mostly)
Sundance
IFC
Trio (never seen it but I've heard good things)
CSPAN 1
CSPAN 2
BBC (from England)
Comedy Central
PBS

That's really it. If the basics count I'd add CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC

[ikojo]

17. The following....

IFC
Sundance
BBC America
Fox Movie Channel
Turner Classic Movies
Starz
HBO
Showtime
C-SPAN II
Sci Fi
TV Land
A&E
Bravo