After Midnight: More Retransmission Disputes

The retransmission agreements between New Young Broadcasting and Time Warner Cable (TWC) for Young’s ABC affiliate stations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Albany, New York expired Wednesday night, February 29. At the eleventh hour, the two sides were not able to come to terms. Rather than force a black-out as has often been the case in such disputes, however, they reset the clock for one week later: March 7.

The stations are not ruling out a black-out in the future. In a company statement, they told viewers that “in the event that we are not able to reach an agreement with Time Warner, you can continue to receive the broadcasts of WBAY-TV by way of our free over the air broadcast transmission.” They also recommend DirecTV and DISH Network satellite services as an alternative source for their content.

It’s good to see that the broadcaster has exhibited some restraint in these negotiations, but it’s clear that it still waves the big black-out stick. Consumers are continuing to be held hostage as the various parties try to find ways to shore up their dwindling revenues, and it seems that everyone loses in the end.

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HDTV Almanac - Retransmission Saga Continues

One step forward, maybe two steps back.

One major retransmission dispute is now resolved. After nearly two months, the Madison Square Garden (MSG) channels have been turned back on for Time Warner Cable (TWC) customers. This did not happen until the New York governor and state attorney general weighed in to put public pressure on both parties to settle. One reason that make the negotiations particularly sticky is that MSG is controlled by the family of the CEO of Cablevision, which is TWC’s major competitor.

So now we can look to Rhode Island and Pensacola, Florida, where LIN TV is threatening to pull the plug on its stations from Cox in those markets unless they can come to terms. What makes this dispute particularly interesting is that LIN TV has two franchises in each of those markets. They own a Fox and a CBS affiliate in Rhode Island, and a Fox and a CW affiliate in Pensacola. Relaxed FCC rules made it possible for a company to own more than one station in a market, which gives LIN TV increased leverage in its negotiations. According to an article in FierceCable, LIN TV has seen a severe drop in ad revenues, and so appears to be turning to retransmission fees as its main source of income.

The pay-TV services are not bottomless buckets of money, as many of their subscribers are all too happy to tell you. Milking these services (and their subscribers) for ever-larger retransmission fees is a dangerous game that is likely to hasten the inevitable review of the FCC’s rules, and who knows what changes that might bring.

Posted by Alfred Poor, February 23, 2012 5:00 AM

Re: HDTV Almanac - Retransmission Saga Continues

eliwhitney • Feb 23, 8:57am
TO: alfredpoor

Good morning , Sir - -

Here, all of this week, our gas stations might just as well "stationed" a guy permanently w/ that long-handeled Pole & suction cup "thingie" to keep updating the gas prices!!! ...wicked, with LOTS MORE to come as soon as "they" dare!

That, in addition to $12.99 for a large can of generic coffee, $2.29 / pound for most varieties of apples, almost $4 / gallon now for milk etc., etc.. - - - without ANY "fear" of disagreements from others herein - - - the DAYS of simply accepting & accepting ever-greater local Cable Billings for LESS content are quickly coming to an end!

I see many "disconnects" on my Horizon as there are better / or, mandatory bills-needing-to-be-paid!

OR, at least, in my opinion!

eli...

Retransmission Saga Continues

One step forward, maybe two steps back.

One major retransmission dispute is now resolved. After nearly two months, the Madison Square Garden (MSG) channels have been turned back on for Time Warner Cable (TWC) customers. This did not happen until the New York governor and state attorney general weighed in to put public pressure on both parties to settle. One reason that make the negotiations particularly sticky is that MSG is controlled by the family of the CEO of Cablevision, which is TWC’s major competitor.

So now we can look to Rhode Island and Pensacola, Florida, where LIN TV is threatening to pull the plug on its stations from Cox in those markets unless they can come to terms. What makes this dispute particularly interesting is that LIN TV has two franchises in each of those markets. They own a Fox and a CBS affiliate in Rhode Island, and a Fox and a CW affiliate in Pensacola. Relaxed FCC rules made it possible for a company to own more than one station in a market, which gives LIN TV increased leverage in its negotiations. According to an article in FierceCable, LIN TV has seen a severe drop in ad revenues, and so appears to be turning to retransmission fees as its main source of income.

The pay-TV services are not bottomless buckets of money, as many of their subscribers are all too happy to tell you. Milking these services (and their subscribers) for ever-larger retransmission fees is a dangerous game that is likely to hasten the inevitable review of the FCC’s rules, and who knows what changes that might bring.

Retransmission Fees: Who Is Winning?

As I have mentioned recently, one of the big topics for 2012 will be the dispute over retransmission fees. Cable and satellite service providers complain that the content producers are holding their customers hostage in order to extort larger fees for the rights to rebroadcast their copyrighted programming. The result has been blackouts of channels — sometimes for extended periods of time — when the previous retransmission contracts expire.

On the content producer side, they are seeing their revenues dwindle from other sources, so they see retransmission fees as a way to recoup their losses. The subscription television services are the ones who draw angry reactions from consumers, however, as their television service bills keep rising year after year. The increased fees are forcing cable and satellite to consider unpalatable options such as lower-priced channel bundles. They could even be forced to offer a la carte pricing.

While the situation is not clearcut, the recent earning news from News Corporation indicates that the retransmission wars may be providing a big windfall for the content providers. The company reported that it experienced “a greater than 100% increase in retransmission consent revenues.”

With the economy the way it is, it seems strange that the rules let a company double its revenues just for providing the same content as before. It appears that part of the problem is that there is no competition permitted in the current rules, and there may be too much leverage given to the content providers.

With numbers like these from News Corp and continuing problems with extended blackouts, it looks like something is broken in the system and this may be the year that it’s bad enough that the FCC or Congress will decide to fix it.

HDTV Almanac - Retransmission Fees: Who Is Winning?

As I have mentioned recently, one of the big topics for 2012 will be the dispute over retransmission fees. Cable and satellite service providers complain that the content producers are holding their customers hostage in order to extort larger fees for the rights to rebroadcast their copyrighted programming. The result has been blackouts of channels — sometimes for extended periods of time — when the previous retransmission contracts expire.

On the content producer side, they are seeing their revenues dwindle from other sources, so they see retransmission fees as a way to recoup their losses. The subscription television services are the ones who draw angry reactions from consumers, however, as their television service bills keep rising year after year. The increased fees are forcing cable and satellite to consider unpalatable options such as lower-priced channel bundles. They could even be forced to offer a la carte pricing.

While the situation is not clearcut, the recent earning news from News Corporation indicates that the retransmission wars may be providing a big windfall for the content providers. The company reported that it experienced “a greater than 100% increase in retransmission consent revenues.”

With the economy the way it is, it seems strange that the rules let a company double its revenues just for providing the same content as before. It appears that part of the problem is that there is no competition permitted in the current rules, and there may be too much leverage given to the content providers.

With numbers like these from News Corp and continuing problems with extended blackouts, it looks like something is broken in the system and this may be the year that it’s bad enough that the FCC or Congress will decide to fix it.

Posted by Alfred Poor, February 13, 2012 5:00 AM

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