A la carte pay television (from the French à la carte, "from the menu"), also referred to as pick-and-pay,[1] is a pricing model for pay television services in which customers subscribe to individual television channels. For subscription distribution services, a la carte pricing contrasts with the prevailing model of bundling, in which channels are grouped into packages that are offered on an all-or-nothing basis.
The term has subsequently been applied to cord cutting—the practice of relying on television services that are streamed over the internet, and to the bundling of various video on demand subscription services, each chosen individually by the consumer, and made accessible through one centralized billing and over the top viewing mechanism.[2]
Hardawar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).