Today, you need cable, no question. You have probably rejected something called "basic" or "standard" cable, which is, of course, too basic even to consider: network channels, a channel-guide channel. Instead, you've decided you need the second option, also probably called "standard" or "basic," which communicates that you are really getting, albeit at a premium, the de facto minimum, which it now is: cable news, Animal Planet, "South Park," what have you. Add a couple of premium channels. Beautiful! You're RDA-APC-TV-OK! (Oh, you'll be wanting digital TV in a couple years. Start saving.)

You'll want Internet access -- can't download those movie trailers without Internet access! -- and though you may, like many Americans, do most of your surfing at work, that requires a white-collar job, with desk, computer, bathroom breaks and all the fixin's. If not, or if in any case you want home access, there's the computer, the all-you-can-eat ISP account, the second phone line to take advantage of said account. (We're banking on those lengthy site visits, folks.) Fortunately, you won't need that second line for long -- broadband's coming! (It'll cost you more.)

And there are plenty of tiering opportunities left. Movie theaters are flirting with premium reserved seating, and Universal's Edgar Bronfman Jr., suggested ticket prices should vary on the basis of movies' budgets. The idea hasn't caught on, but there could yet come the day when movies offer a Barney's-to-Wal-Mart spectrum: you can pay $25 for a Will Smith fourth-of-July skyrocket or $3.50 for a romantic comedy cast entirely with Mentos commercial alumni.

James Poniewozik's column appears in Media, every Monday and Thursday + Biography + Archives

Premium channels have been around -- and offering marquee series like "Larry Sanders" -- for a long time. But their growing reliance on original series (Showtime is heavily promoting the coming "Beggars and Choosers") changes the TV dynamic. When the channels mainly trafficked in Hollywood films, they were offering a bulk discount on movies. The deal with original programming is just the opposite: Pay us more for the same type of programming (albeit hopefully better) you get from the networks. If the trend continues -- enlisting more subscribers and drawing creative talent away from networks and basic cable -- the price of critic's-darling series could rise by a couple of Franklins a year.

Add in the overnight price increases effected when the music industry embraces a new recording format. Inflated concert prices. Tele-ticket fees to ensure a seat at the movies. Several-dollar surcharges for major museum shows -- ironically, the ones with the broadest appeal, the Monets and whatnot, set you back the most. (If you want the whole list, listen to an NPR pledge drive, where hosts constantly break down the pile of loot you blow annually on pay media that could instead subsidize those charming Powdermilk Biscuits spots.) Pretty soon Entertainment Weekly, metropolitan newspapers and so on are assuming that you carry a monthly culture bill of a couple of hundred bucks, before Raisinets.

And it's not mere elitism. Critics, contrary to popular belief, like to write about quality work; but, perhaps unavoidably, they have to write to an audience sector willing to pony up for it, even on TV. And you have to wonder whether this could ultimately affect editorial content. Magazines want to offer advertisers affluent readers. What better way to do that by focusing on those readers' preferred media choices?

Tiering could prove good for media consumers in some ways: Many, I bet, would welcome the chance to buy all their cable channels a la carte, rather than pay for a slew they never watch. And a flexible movie-pricing plan like Bronfman's could, ironically, benefit higher-brow indie film attendance -- you could have seen "Pi" with the change under your sofa cushions. (While we're at it, how about wealth-redistribution movie theaters, charging on a sliding income scale: From each according to his ability, to each according to his taste?) There will still be a mainstream, wherever it shifts. But it's costing more to swim there.
salon.com | June 14, 1999

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