Big 3 Networks Top Viewers' Dream a la Carte Video Packages, Digitalsmiths Says

When building their own a la carte video package, consumers most want ABC, CBS, NBC, Discovery Chanel, History and Fox, TiVo's Digitalsmiths reported Wednesday. For each of those channels, consumers are willing to pay roughly $1.50 a month, with the average price for their top-10 channels being $15.30 a month, it said. That raises the question of whether consumers face sticker shock when asked to pay, for example, the $5.99 per month charged by CBS for its All Access app, Digitalsmiths said. It said it looked at the skinny bundle offerings available now, and found none carries all the 20 most-desired channels. "Add up the cost of a skinny bundle, subscription video on demand service and a streaming device like Google Chromecast and the total is essentially back to the cost of a traditional pay-TV package," it said. "Will consumers catch on that skinny bundles aren't really skinny?" The TiVo unit said pay-TV providers could remain competitive by offering a la carte or skinny bundle packages that include channels unavailable in competitive offerings. The data came from a survey of 3,140 U.S. and Canadian participants.