Many people keep talking about people like Apple, Google, Amazon or Intel changing the current dynamics of content distribution and affiliate rights but they always seem to overlook something that may have a much more immediate tangible effect of "must carry" channel packaging - Canada a la carte TV.
If a la carte works in Canada - there would be no argument about it being able to work in the US. What will be interesting to watch is what direction programmers take. I would expect ABC/Disney to charge more for an un-bundled ESPN (and maybe for ESPN2 - say $5 and $1 respectively) but would they increase pricing for the lesser channels? Would they charge more for ESPNU hoping college sports enthusiasts would pony up or would they discount it to try and rope in the casual sports fans?
And if un-bundled a la carte pricing came into being - then that's really where the billing and streaming capabilities of an Apple iTunes or an Amazon Prime could really shine. There are so many possibilities. Maybe cable rules don't apply to over the top streaming so even if cable has to un-bundle maybe ESPN makes a deal with Apple to have monthly subscriptions to all the ESPN channels for $10 a month. That deal would actually have more gross margin for ABC/Disney than their existing affiliate rights agreements.
Many naysayers predict consumers actually paying more for content if a la carte came into being. I don't see how that's possible. A la carte will lead to more competition among content producers and more options of content delivery for subscribers.
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