[citation][nom]KawiNinjaZX[/nom]Though I don't really like Apple, I love the idea of being able to just buy the shows you want to watch. I have to pay over $80 a month for DirecTV just to watch a few shows. What I would really like to see is the ability for the Apple TV to allow users to pay for individual channels. So you could pay $5/month for FX and maybe $7 for FOX. So if you watch a lot on only a few network, you figure you could buy FX,FOX,NBC,ABC you would pay like $25 a month, and then the few extra shows you could buy individually, and have the ability to rent the shows instead of buying them.[/citation]
That is not up to Apple, it's ultimately up to whomever distributes the broadband. If, say, Comcast opposes this model (likely they will), they will block content distribution via their cable broadband division. They already pushed that for Netflix, and will do the same for anyone else, Apple included. They would only go for it if there was enough revenue in that for them, charging extra for individual channels and that cost will be translated to the end-user. I agree current TV packages are full of crap, but a la carte tv might cost you more than you think.
Besides, if that were to be allowed, what would stop the end-user to go and buy directly from the producer the particular program he/she wants to watch? He/she could buy, say, Discovery Channel directly from Discovery and not pay any third party, including Apple, extra fees.