It’s just a matter of time when everyone will be able to pick and choose what you want to watch (and pay for) on cable. Verizon just announced and now offers a la carte to their TV subscribers. And HBO is now going direct: $15 a month on the Internet. So how might this play out?
For sure, the Long Tail I always seem to reference will change shape a bit, in that the first and larger part of the tail will actually get wider, as viewers get a chance to truly put their money where their true interests are. So the ‘hot’ shows like ‘Game of Thrones’ and the stellar channels, like HBO, will get all that much more revenue.
But the shows that have been subsidized as a result of the bundling? Not so much. In fact, they go further down the Tail where it’s narrower. Definitely less revenue for them. And more than a few just won’t make it.
Does the tail actually get a little shorter as a result of unbundling? Possibly.
But we remain, thankfully, in this Golden Age of Television (or Content or whatever you want to call it). At least for us, it’s hard to keep up.