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Released: July 13, 2010

Smaller cable TV packages good for consumers

Source: David Lazarus, L.A.Times (Free Registration)

Looks like the cable industry is finally responding to the threat of cut-rate online alternatives such as YouTube and Hulu. No, that doesn’t mean cable companies will at last allow people to pay only for the channels they want to watch and not stick them with hundreds they don’t. But it may soon mean smaller, cheaper packages that could lower your monthly bill.

Cable insiders have been telling me for months that smaller packages are in the works. Now a senior industry figure has spoken publicly about the prospect. I reported in March that cable execs were weighing the possibility of packages of 40 or 50 channels rather than the 118 forced upon the average subscriber. The typical cable customer regularly watches only about 17 channels, according to Nielsen Co.

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