A battle royale is brewing between two entrenched lobbies — the broadcasting and pay-TV industries — over how much shows from “American Idol” to the local news are worth.
Like many Washington showdowns, this one boils down to dollars and cents — namely, the hundreds of millions of dollars that pay-TV companies pay broadcasters to retransmit their signals.
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POLITICO 44
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But this is one fight that could reverberate well beyond the Beltway. A prolonged impasse this fall could mean blackouts for thousands of TV viewers — putting the heat on Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to get involved.
For decades, broadcasters have clashed with pay-TV providers over what’s known in telecom parlance as retransmission consent. The crux of the dispute boils down to this: Pay-TV providers need the broadcasters’ programming to keep their subscribers happy. Broadcasters want to be paid for it.
Each side has a different idea about how much the fare of national networks and their local affiliates is worth — and what the ground rules should be for negotiating a price.
Pay-TV firms say they’re handicapped by the 1992 Cable Act, which gave broadcasters the ability to charge cable, satellite and telephone companies to retransmit their signals to subscribers. But the cable and satellite industries say the law, which sets the terms of negotiations between broadcasters and pay-TV companies, should be rewritten to tip the balance of power back in their direction.
“The very nature of the way these rules are set up puts a gun to our heads,” said Mike Heimowitz, spokesman for the pay-TV industry-backed American Television Alliance. “There will be blackouts.”
The pay-TV industry adds that the hundreds of millions of dollars it pays broadcasters to retransmit their signals are too much because the 1992 Cable Act unfairly tilts the balance of power toward broadcasters.
Broadcasters, however, like the rules just fine. They say they’re only asking for fair value for their product.
“For years, broadcasters didn’t get a nickel out of retransmission consent,” National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Gordon Smith said in an interview. “But broadcast content is what the cable industry was selling to customers.”
Like many Washington showdowns, this one boils down to dollars and cents — namely, the hundreds of millions of dollars that pay-TV companies pay broadcasters to retransmit their signals.
Continue Reading
POLITICO 44
Get Adobe Flash player
But this is one fight that could reverberate well beyond the Beltway. A prolonged impasse this fall could mean blackouts for thousands of TV viewers — putting the heat on Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to get involved.
For decades, broadcasters have clashed with pay-TV providers over what’s known in telecom parlance as retransmission consent. The crux of the dispute boils down to this: Pay-TV providers need the broadcasters’ programming to keep their subscribers happy. Broadcasters want to be paid for it.
Each side has a different idea about how much the fare of national networks and their local affiliates is worth — and what the ground rules should be for negotiating a price.
Pay-TV firms say they’re handicapped by the 1992 Cable Act, which gave broadcasters the ability to charge cable, satellite and telephone companies to retransmit their signals to subscribers. But the cable and satellite industries say the law, which sets the terms of negotiations between broadcasters and pay-TV companies, should be rewritten to tip the balance of power back in their direction.
“The very nature of the way these rules are set up puts a gun to our heads,” said Mike Heimowitz, spokesman for the pay-TV industry-backed American Television Alliance. “There will be blackouts.”
The pay-TV industry adds that the hundreds of millions of dollars it pays broadcasters to retransmit their signals are too much because the 1992 Cable Act unfairly tilts the balance of power toward broadcasters.
Broadcasters, however, like the rules just fine. They say they’re only asking for fair value for their product.
“For years, broadcasters didn’t get a nickel out of retransmission consent,” National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Gordon Smith said in an interview. “But broadcast content is what the cable industry was selling to customers.”
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