Those fans of regulatory jawboning for a la carte offerings might want to instead do all in their power to bring about more broadband deployment at faster speeds. The Internet -- and IPTV -- create a true a la carte environment where consumers don't choose individual channels, but individual programs.

I still would guess that the business model will involve a great deal of bundling of programming choices (they must, after all, be paid for somehow) to consumers, but the Internet is the ultimate market driver to a la carte choices.

And this is what scares the bejeebers out of networks...and it should. As we have seen with the travel agencies, and big media, the Internet disintermediates markets, challenging "middlemen" like networks or newspapers to either add value or go quietly into the night...