In 2008 it was about $60 for ~118 channels ( my source is https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/technology/24cable.html https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/technolo

In 2008 it was about $60 for ~118 channels ( my source is https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/technology/24cable.html https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/technology/24cable.html which isn't very good arguably). So lets round and say $0.50 a channel. If netflix et al only cost $0.50, i'd have no problem subscribing to 10 services. Really, the whole cable a la carte thing was really a response to false advertising. Cable liked to advertise each channel as being equal - as if you were spending $0.50 per channel when really you were spending $50 on the good channels, and the other junk was free.