Cable customers aren’t satisfied with their current options and are eager for a la carte programming, but don’t really want to pay much for it, according to a new study released Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A whopping 73 percent of cable customers want to be able to customize their programming packages, but only 38 percent said they’d be willing to pay more than $3 per channel each month.

The PwC study reveals that 57 percent of viewers are only willing to pay 99 cents or less per month per show, and that 63 percent of respondents say original programming is key to choosing which pay TV services they’ll shell out for.

And for many, there is an expectation that customizing their TV packages would mean saving money.

“It’s just that I also have a bunch of other channels that just sit there, that aren’t doing anything,” said one PwC focus group participant. “So if they could take that off and lower my bill each month, that would be great.”

For those execs breaking into a cold sweat at the low fees consumers say they’re willing to pay, there could be another solution to making a la carte economically viable: forcing people to watch ads.

Eight out of 10 respondents who preferred a customized package said they’d be willing to watch ads in lieu of paying fees. PwC says at this point viewers have been conditioned to accept ads as part of the TV watching experience, and they’re especially receptive if ads are the trade-off for saving money.

And they’re even more receptive if they can control which advertisers to whom they’re exposed.

Some 60 percent said they’d be willing to watch one or two additional ads on TV if they were given the opportunity to select the ad categories that most appealed to them. That number dips slightly to 58 percent when it comes to computer screens, and then it drops off markedly as the screen size shrinks on handheld and mobile devices. The main reason: people say they’re more pressed for time when on handheld devices and are worried about battery life and bandwidth. If they don’t like an ad on their TV they can walk away.

So what would these a la carte packages look like?

65 percent said they’d opt for 10 or more channels—basic cable (69 percent) or premium (67 percent) most likely to make the cut.

Far fewer people said they’d opt for kids’ channels (21 percent) or premium sports (29 percent).

In the middle: Basic sports (59 percent), lifestyle (56 percent) and news (45 percent).

Read More: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Brief Take: Consumers continue to demand more control of where, when and how they can watch TV, and providers are going to have to evolve their business models. While consumers don’t want to pay a lot, their willingness to accept advertising points the way towards a possible path forward.

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