Why Does the Cable-TV Bundle Exist Anyway?

Bundling scores of networks together has endured in large part because the programmers and distributors both made huge profits from new channels, rising numbers of subscribers and steadily higher cable bills. Plus, until recently, it would have been a logistical nightmare for distributors to sell channels individually. Now, pushback is building that could finally break the bundle.

So why does the bundle exist in the first place? It started with John Walson, often credited as the father of the cable industry, charging $2 for three local broadcast channels in 1948 in suburban Philadelphia. For cable’s first three decades, its primary purpose was retransmitting broadcast channels to rural areas. By the late 1970s, that need was met and cable operators started investing in original programming to boost subscriptions as satellite technology allowed for mass distribution of a cable network. At the time, the idea of selling channels individually didn’t enter the equation. Tailoring packages of channels to customers was technologically challenging, and the costs and management of billing were seen as prohibitive.