An à la carte menu for viewing pleasure?

Singapore - As cable TV operators compete to offer more exclusive channels and programmes to subscribers, consumers are frequently cornered into taking up repeat services from both operators.The double payment as a result has led to several consumer complaints. In a letter in the Forum section (1 January 2013) of the local newspaper the Straits Times, a member of the public, Paul Chan accused the Media Development Authority (MDA) of dropping the pursuit of an à la carte pay-TV menu "despite constant consumer calls for such a model."In response, Ho Hwei Ling, director of communications at MDA said (on 9 January 2013) pay-TV retailers are free to decide on the commercial model that they think would best serve consumers' needs.However, she also added that "market developments should be shaped by market forces," implying consumers have the right to demand from their cable TV operators the type of services they want provided.Her response sparked off the debate whether or not cable operators should reintroduce à la carte channel offerings.When Marketing asked SingTel, provider of mio-TV, and StarHub their response to the demand both said with bundled packs, the costs passed on to customers are lower because of economies of scale and that the individually offered channels would be much more costly.In a statement to Marketing, SingTel said: "When we acquired over 40 FIC channels last year, we repackaged our channels to bring customers a range of cost-effective packages, organised based on viewing preferences. We did, however, still offer a certain level of choice by offering interest packs for different ethnic, sports, and movie content."StarHub seconded Ho's statement saying decisions on commercial models should be left to the operators, "who have to balance the needs and demands of consumers, economic viability and contractual obligations with content partners."It added that while some programmes are bundled together because of the requirements imposed by the content owners, there are benefits when premium content is bundled with others of the same genre so that it becomes affordable to the masses."According to Bharad Ramesh, regional executive director, strategic operations & trading, Asia, at Starcom MediaVest Group, pay-TV operators have already introduced flexibility in their bundled offerings compared to several years ago with more à la carte options.He too agreed that the ability to split and buy channels does not make any economic sense for pay-TV operator since content providers are not selling à la carte to the cable operators."The hits/high demand TV shows or channels subsidise the rest. For the operator, there's a cost of the infrastructure and content that gets amortised by bundling. Consumers, frankly, cannot afford a true à la carte model. The content business does not do à la carte," he added."I am in complete agreement with MDA on this one."However, according to Ramesh, with increasing broadband speed and content available online, the real threat to pay-TV business seems to be online video.StarHub, similarly, stated that increasingly consumers want content on demand and this is largely due to the proliferation of smart devices, faster broadband speeds and increasingly busy lifestyles of viewers."Consumers who want à la carte are already getting it online. Plus, with over-the-top services coming through, there are multiple options. The operators here have evolved to an extent, and continue to do so. They are worried about consumers cutting the cord," Ramesh added.