Tech Analyst Jeff Kagan Comment: “A La Carte” Pricing is Fair to TV Users, but May Destroy Pay-TV Model
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) July 22, 2013 -- The LA Times ran an article on July 15, which said changing the way we pay for cable television and pay TV to an “a la carte model” would destroy the current cable television or pay TV pricing model.
Industry analyst Jeff Kagan offers his comment on this story.
“There are always pro’s and con’s to everything. It may be true that introducing an a la carte pricing model into the cable television and pay TV mix would destroy the traditional model, but is that really a bad thing? It would bring fairness to cable television pricing. It would force customers who want to watch expensive networks like ESPN to pay more per month, and it would let customers who don’t want to watch them to pay less. This pay for what you use model seems more fair than the current shared model,” says Principal analyst Jeff Kagan.
“Charging customer for what they watch seems more fair than charging every customer for networks they no not watch to lower the costs for everyone. If the current model works in cable television then we should extend it to other industries. One example, in the automotive industry we can charge more for a basic car so it can offset the higher price of the loaded car. Would that be fair? That’s the question we have to ask,” asks Kagan.
“It may be true that a la carte pricing would destroy the current pay TV model, but that model is currently broken and unfair. It charges every user for expensive networks even if they don’t view them. So we must simply decide which pay model we want to support going forward,” says Kagan.
“There are two different groups that are at odds here, the investor and the customer. The investor want’s the cable television industry to earn as much as possible. The customer wants the cost they pay to be as low as possible. I don’t see destroying the old model and replacing it with a new model being a bad thing. I think if we come at this with fairness to the customer in mind first, the marketplace will settle in to this new model and will continue to grow and the investor will also win. It always seems to work this way,” suggests Kagan.
About Jeff Kagan
Jeff Kagan is a Technology Industry Analyst and consultant who is regularly quoted by the media over 25 years. He offers comment on wireless, telecom and tech news stories to reporters and journalists.
He is also known as a Tech Analyst, Wireless Analyst, Telecom Analyst and Principal Analyst depending on the focus of the story.
He follows wireless, telecom, Internet, cable television and IPTV. He also follows the wide consumer electronics and technology space.
Reporters: Jeff Kagan sends comments by email to reporters and the media. If you would like to be added to this email list please send request by email.
Clients: Call or email Jeff Kagan to discuss becoming a client. Kagan has worked with many companies over 25 years as consulting clients.
Contact: Jeff Kagan by email at jeff(at)jeffKAGAN(dot)com or by phone at 770-579-5810.
Visit his website: at jeffKAGAN.com to learn more and for disclosures.
Kagan is an analyst, consultant, columnist and speaker.
Twitter: @jeffkagan
Jeff Kagan, Tech Analyst, Industry Analyst, Jeff Kagan, Tech Analyst, http://www.jeffKAGAN.com, 770-579-5810, [email protected]
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