I see that the FCC has decided to advocate “a la carte” pricing for cable TV (although they aren’t pushing for it to be required).  In the past I’ve often wished for something like this as well as “on demand” or “pay per view” for premium channel shows (i.e. being able to watch individual episodes of “The Sopranos” without having to buy a full subscription, since I don’t watch anything else on HBO). 

But it occurs to me that the cable operators, if they were to participate, would see it as a money-making opportunity.  I would bet that when all is said and done that you’d pay more just to get your favorite channels than if you bought the package.