Dear Editor,

Bundled packages offered by most cable service providers may not always be a deal for all subscribers and oftentimes prove a waste of money for those who do not need the unwatched, extra channels of the package.

Most subscribers will often select the plan they think they can afford, unmindful of their usage against what is being paid. One popular provider offers over 1,000 channels bundled in primary packages but in these packages subscribers pay for many channels they do not or rarely watch.

Here, we frequently watch some 25 channels (CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, USA, WGN, BBC, TVJ, CVM, City TV, 3ABM, TNT, USA, and occasionally, PBCJ, PBS, Lifetime, The Weather Channel, Discovery, Learning and A&E) in our package. But, in this instance, 100 channels are extra service not required but for which we pay the monthly package price.

Evidently, the provider must have a minimum subscription which gives subscribers the option to purchase a basic package but do so with an option to add individual channels at a per-channel price.

So, where we have no need for 125 channels, the cable provider would be helping in the effort to save money in these increasingly hard times.

Claude Wilson

jaclaudew@yahoo.com