LOOK WHO’S FOOTING THE BILL FOR ALL THOSE BIG CABLE DEALS

Those multimillion-dollar retransmission-consent agreements that cable systems have signed with broadcasters and those similarly over-the-top deals that they have made with popular cable channels are sending the monthly bills of cable subscribers soaring. According to market researchers The NPD Group, monthly subscription rates are growing at an average rate of 6 percent per year, reaching […]

REPORT: NFL PUTTING THE SQUEEZE ON NBC

NBC and the NFL have begun talks aimed at renewing Sunday Night Football, with the NFL making it clear it wants a significant increase in payments, the New York Post reported today (Friday). The current deal calls for NBC to pay the NFL about $600 million yearly for rights to air the Sunday games. According […]

DISH MAY SIDESTEP RETRANSMISSION FEES

Satellite operator DISH has hit on a way to cut back, if not eliminate, the costs of those retransmission consent deals it has to make with local broadcast stations in order to carry their programming: combine its satellite receiving dishes with a standard antenna so that subscribers can receive the over-the-air stations free. The company’s […]

FOX AND AFFILIATES ENGAGE IN “OPEN WARFARE”

The head of affiliate sales and marketing for Fox Broadcasting has made it clear that he no longer intends to negotiate with the Fox affiliate board and will instead deal with individual stations and station groups to get a piece of the payments that those stations receive from cable and satellite operators. In an interview […]

58 SINCLAIR-OWNED STATIONS MAY GO DARK ON TIME-WARNER CABLE

Another dispute over retransmission consent fees is going down to the wire as Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 58 stations in 35 markets across the country, is threatening to yank those stations from Time Warner Cable at midnight on Friday unless Time Warner Cable agrees to pay it an additional 10 cents per customer per […]

TIME WARNER CABLE GOES THE DISTANCE TO BATTLE BALKY STATIONS

Implementing a new tactic in its battle against local TV stations over retransmission consent fees, Time Warner Cable is replacing Smith Media stations in Utica and Plattsburgh, NY and Burlington, VT with affiliates of the same networks in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA, Watertown, NY, and Utica, NY. A Time Warner Cable executive said in a statement […]

NEWS CORP SEES PROFITS JUMP

News Corp reported a big jump in net income during its first quarter, led by gains in its television and newspaper operations, as advertisers who had slashed their spending a year ago returned to the field. The media conglomerate reported net income of $775 million, up 36 percent from $571 million during the comparable quarter […]

FOX, CABLEVISION END DISPUTE; CABLEVISION’S UNHAPPY

Fox TV and Cablevision may have reached an agreement to end their 16-day stalemate over retransmission consent fees on Saturday — in time to allow the third game of the World Series to be viewed by Cablevision’s subscribers who live mostly in the New York area — but Cablevision executives were clearly unhappy with the […]

CABLEVISION, FOX TAKE THEIR DISPUTE PUBLIC

As the dispute between Fox TV and Cablevision over retransmission consent fees headed into its 13th day of stalemate, there were these new developments: Cablevision, which serves some three million homes mostly around New York City, informed its subscribers via email that it would reimburse them $10.00 for the $9.95 fee that MLB.com charges to […]

PLAYOFFS DRAW SOLID RATINGS DESPITE CABLE DISPUTE

Despite losing many of its viewers in the New York and Philadelphia areas because of its retransmission consent dispute with Cablevision, Fox TV on Wednesday night managed to record 8.34 million viewers for its National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. Joining the various commercial Internet sites providing details […]

Next Page »