Bundled Cable TV Withstands Consumer Opposition

Many Americans don’t understand why they’re paying about $80 a month on average for cable or satellite television when they only watch a few of the networks. But their anger toward their pay-TV operator may be misplaced. Sure, Comcast, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable, who charge their customers nearly double the cost they pay for programming, make a healthy profit margin on their cable bundles. But they’d likely be willing to get that same hefty return on smaller bundles of channels and charge less for the package. The challenge comes in convincing programmers—the companies that crank out must-see shows such as Duck Dynasty or The Walking Dead—to let them offer some but not all of their channels.