Why don’t TV service providers switch then? Why can’t the viewers compile which TV channels they are willing to pay for and which they are not interested in? Probably because that would undermine the complete industry.

Today and average American cable TV subscriber pays 60 USD for a middle-sized package (approx. 11,000 HUF). This contains around 160 channels, not mentioning the purchasable premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.). Obviously only a part of these are regularly watched by the subscribers, so the question rises immediately: why are the others necessary? Well, the status-quo of the American TV broadcasting network - worth approx. 60 billion USD - can only be maintained that way.

If the packages disappeared, that would completely turn the advertising habits upside down (portfolios targeting the widest target audience would fragment, so media packages would become pointless), since currently 1.24 advertisement USD is assigned to 1 subscriber USD. This clearly shows that the income of the channels excluded from the packages would drastically fall and would not be enough to cover the operational expenses. This would force the channels to increase the subscription fee or to close business. If the channels increased their fees, that would result in higher package cost than now. If they closed business, the viewers of less popular, thematic content (e.g. Discovery Military Channel) would remain without broadcast.

It is also worth mentioning that in a market environment transformed according to the above, smaller channels could not launch their services – or it would be extremely difficult – while big channels that are already operating with a business model like that (e.g. HBO) would remain profitable. This would result in a significant drop in supply or result in the drastic increase of subscriber fees, which seems to be completely unfeasible on the price-sensitive Hungarian market. Furthermore – due to some experts – even technological obstacles of á la carte TV consumption would emerge because of the current network’s deficiency.

Therefore in case we would like to watch TV at the current price and quality in the future, the era of á la carte TV watching is far ahead of us in Hungary and in the US as well.