While 60 million households is respectable distribution for a second-tier cable network, Current has long suffered from poor channel placement, low visibility and a diffuse brand identity.

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Above all, Kent had a vision to build a cable company that operated in second-tier suburban markets and college towns with low population density.

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The company could, for example, start offering an a-la-carte service, on a premium tier to customers, pitting it against traditional cable companies.

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The digital economy tier includes local broadcast channels, as well as popular cable channels, such as USA, Lifetime, but no ESPN.

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One possibility: Cable operators may decide to relegate all their sports channels to a special tier that costs extra, rather than being forced to carry them all broadly.

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DirecTV initially wanted to put the channel on a specialty tier that subscribers would have to request to see, but Time Warner Cable was greatly opposed to that because it would limit revenue from subscription fees and advertisers.

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The unselected games then pass to the second tier rights holder, and games chosen at that level are generally aired on cable networks.

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Currently their main obstacle is the unwillingness of cable operators to put a network of interest to only a fraction of their viewers on a tier available to a broad number of their subscribers.

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Cable operators have been trying forever to offer such programming a la carte, or at least as a premium tier that most non-fans could avoid.

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