Could Retrans Fees Save the Broadcast Industry?
The fight over retransmission fees between Fox and Time Warner Cable last week highlights an increasingly contentious relationship between the big four broadcast networks and the cable companies that carry them. Other broadcasters will most likely join the battle for retrans fees over the next few years, with CBS and ABC expected to push harder for their share of cable subscriber fees.
The fight over retransmission fees between Fox and Time Warner Cable last week highlights an increasingly contentious relationship between the big four broadcast networks and the cable companies that carry them. Other broadcasters will most likely join the battle for retrans fees over the next few years, with CBS and ABC expected to push harder for their share of cable subscriber fees. While broadcasters seek to offset a weakening ad market and better compete with cable networks, cable providers are being forced to negotiate higher fees for all of their programming — fees that will eventually get passed onto subscribers. It’s a tussle that will result in higher costs for everyone, and it’s happening at the same time broadcast TV is becoming less relevant to viewers, for a number of reasons. For one thing, broadcasters have seen their ratings slip over the past 10 years, as viewers have increasingly turned to cable for their TV programming. According to research from Nielsen, broadcaste
