What a load of old bollocks<br /><br />One mans trash is another mans treasure. <br /><br />Pay TV content e.g nat geo, discovery,animal planet. Is sold based on subscriber minimums. The more the pay tv has getting that channel the cheaper its provided for. <br /><br />E.g 500000 subscribers getting Nat Geo. May mean Foxtel might pay $3 u.s per month per subscriber. <br /><br />There are minimum subscriber amounts that the content supplier expects e.g 100000 might be the minimum. Foxtel would have to pay for that many subscribers at say $5 u.s per sub per month.<br /><br />They pay for a minimum for most channels Nat Geo,Animal Planet, Discovery etc, some are sold and discounted as package deals etc<br /><br />Better value to get a package with a variety of channels in it.<br /><br />If you want pick and choose (ala carte) you would end up paying more in the long run. AS Foxtel wouldn't be able to reach the minimums for some channels they purchase. But will still have to pay as if they were reaching minimums