The end of cable TV as we know it

[bbinnard]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2012/12/30/why-intels-new-iptv-service-will-do-what-google-app...

Finally - a la cart pricing from a company that truly knows how to manage technology.  This has got to get the cable companies thinking about how they structure their product offerings and how they deal with their subscribers. 

[Caps09]

We'll have to wait and see how it works. Most people will be astonished when they see that one channel might cost $10 a month without any guarantee of broad distribution. Everyone thinks that each channel on an a la carte platform will continue to cost 12 cents a month with no effect on the quality of programming. This doesn't even include mainstream sports channels and regional sports networks, who all depend on broad distribution and exclusivity in order to pay their big rights fees.

[Keyboards]

And they have run into the came issues of paranoia on the content providers part that all the others thbefore Intel have run into.

See THIS ITEM over at DSLReports.com. 

[ansky201]

These alternative TV services never catch on.  Google TV was supposed to be "the next big thing" and I know a total of 1 person that has it.  As much as people like to complain about the cost of cable TV, the vast majority are not going to switch to this type of unfamiliar service.  Besides, you need an internet connection for IPTV, so you can be certain that the cost of internet service from the cable companies would skyrocket if this IPTV service generated any mass appeal.

[walt178]

A la carte pricing will never be able to compete with bundle pricing.  Drop the bundle and the price of your internet service goes up. When you start paying those a la carte prices, you want need very many channels before you are paying the same amount, or more.  Most people are going to want several channels. 

The hype keeps coming.  But it will never be cost effective for the majority.  That's why I have FIOS.  I could do without most of the channels I get.  But there is no cheaper way to get the ones I do want.