A la carte sounds great in theory until people start having to make actual purchase decisions. Love Breaking Bad - sure. Love Breaking Bad enough to pay $39.99 to get it on demand - not so sure.
It all depends on how much of a TV watcher you are.
If TV isn't your primary hobby... and you have other things to occupy your time... but you do like Breaking Bad... just buy a season of Breaking Bad once and be done with it.
However... most people love TV and lots of different shows. To them, paying $100 every month is worth it.
The good thing is... the cable subscription isn't going away anytime soon. Nobody will be forced to start paying for individual shows.