• Ad Age, Wednesday, December 21, 2005 11 AM

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, which holds that a la carte cable programming will reduce consumer's monthly bills while at the same time permitting them to pay only for what they care to watch, Kagan Research reports that quite the opposite is true. "Those who want to rush to a la carte pricing are thinking too simplistic [sic] and are not thinking through the implications," Kagan senior analyst Derek Baine told TelevisionWeek. According to the research company, the misperceptions about the economics of cable programming have led consumers, legislators, and even some in the industry to believe that the current tiered system is unfriendly to customers. In fact, says Kagan, breaking up the current system, in which some of the smaller cable programmers are essentially helped by being included within the tiers, would lead to steeper bills. For most cable consumers, Kagan concludes, bundled programming is a good deal.

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