I've Been Paying for HGTV? Really?

In the New Yorker, James Surowiecki explains why it’s not just cable providers who like the current cable-TV system that bundles channels: “The appeal of bundling is partly that it reduces transaction costs; instead of having to figure out how much each part of a package is worth to you, you can make a blanket judgment.” Public disputes in the cable-TV world, however, such as those recently waged by Fox and Time Warner Cable, could spell the end of channel bundling, as consumers might start to reevaluate their bundles. “When HGTV says it wants more money for its programming,” Surowiecki writes, “it makes people who don’t watch HGTV wonder why they should pay anything for it at all.” [%comments]