if channels could be purchased separately, and networks would actually have to produce content which customers felt was justified by the price. With everything bundled, service providers lump a couple high demand channels in with ones which have low viewership and low broadcast rights fees to pad out the number of channels (or make extra profit off shopping channels which pay to be broadcast).

I got down to only ever watching 3 or 4 channels, and cut cable/satellite several a few years ago (after al a carte legislation seemed to have permanently failed). There are some creative ways to still catch most sports/movies/shows (particularly if you don't mind not watching live), but I'd happily pay higher per channel fees, if not forced to support bundled channels I find valueless or objectionable.