TV woes

I'd like to have BBC America.

I'm a fan of lots of British TV offerings (not the least of which includes "Dr. Who").

Instead, Comcast offers me Oxygen, some weird channel called "VS", at least two home shopping channels, and buckets of more crap that wouldn't interest me in a billion years.

Given the transition to digital cable, I have to wonder why providers don't offer a "menu" of channels instead of pre-set packages.

It seems a waste to me to even bother offering me Animal Planet, Oxygen, or the Hallmark Channel. The odds of any of them offering programming that would remotely interest me is about equal to me winning California's Super Lotto jackpot.

Twice.

In a row.

Seriously... why not offer a smattering of local networks (the biggies, NBC, CBS, etc.) and local channels, then offer packages to get a selection of more?

Say $20/month for 10 more channels above and beyond the basic? That's pretty much all I'd ever need or care for.

If they're premium (like HBO), jack the price a bit like normal.

Oh, I don't seriously expect to see this in my lifetime. It's too consumer-friendly and makes too much sense. Instead, I expect providers will twiddle their thumbs and let Internet sites offer content for far less (or let people just torrent what they want and cut the providers out altogether).