TWC's Dodgers channel dispute a case for a la carte pricing

[Commentary] Time Warner Cable was patting itself on the back after saying it was willing to have a federal arbitrator step in to resolve its long-running dispute with other pay-TV companies over the cost of the new Dodgers channel.

Arbitration with Time Warner Cable over the Dodgers channel would only perpetuate this corrupt system. On the other hand, offering SportsNet LA only to those who want it -- as DirecTV and other pay-TV companies have proposed -- would almost certainly prompt demands for all sports channels to be offered a la carte. Then it would be just a matter of time before other programming tiers -- movies, news, religious and foreign-language shows -- are similarly unbundled. And before long, we'll arrive at the only reasonable destination: allowing consumers to pick their channels in the same way they decide all other purchases: based on their individual wants and not on the demands of some broadcasting executive in New York.