Survey: ESPN Not Most Wanted CableTV Channel

What channels would consumers actually pay for if they could pick and chose?

Variety reports the answer to that question may surprise you, and is bad news for at least some cable networks.

Take ESPN, for example. The Disney-owned sports network is often quoted as the prime reason for people not cutting the cord, and is by far the most expensive cable network. But a new survey from Digitalsmiths found that only 35.7 percent of consumers would add ESPN to their personal a la carte lineup of TV channels if they had the choice.  That ranks the cable network 20th in the survey, behind Discovery Channel at 62 percent, History Channel at 57 percent, and behind the Weather Channel’s 39.9 percent.

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Despite the harm it will do to many of the channels lower in the rankings, the financial benefit for customers is obvious, write Alex McCown at avclub.com. Currently, the largest percentage of subscribers pay an average of $125 a month, with a good portion paying upwards of $150 monthly. The study makes the case that consumers’ ideal compilation of channels—approximately 17 total—would run them an average of $38 a month.