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Having completely cut the cord, I sometimes wish networks like ESPN and Big Ten Network would offer a la carte.
I doubt they will any time soon, because they get so much revenue off of requiring basic tier placement from cable and the major streamers.
That carriage fee is very high because the cable companies know massive numbers of people would drop cable and go a la carte if they could. And ESPN knows that once it's done, they will have to continually justify what they charge.
Neither one has any desire to lead this break, which would probably wind up breaking the cable system. And there's no incentive for ESPN to stop raising its fees. YTTV tried and I doubt ESPN even blinked. YTTV would have been out of business within months if they had stuck to their guns here.
We're getting closer to having the opportunity for NFL's Sunday Ticket a la carte (you can now, but it requires not being able to get Direct TV). That retails for about $25/month - which gets you out-of-market NFL games you can't already get over the air. That has me thinking something like ESPN, if it were available a la carte, would start even higher.
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