Was brainstorming today at lunch.
The main reason D* and E* can't provide out of market network affiliates just anywhere they wish is to protect the advertising revenue of in-market stations. I don't have a problem with local stations wanting to remain profitable.
Why not allow some type of reimbursement to local stations?
It could work like this. The FCC takes average advertising revenue for each DMA and divides by number of households. If you live in said DMA and want stations from another DMA, you can get them, as long as you can recieve their spotbeam. You pay, through your D* or E* bill, a subsidy fee to the stations in the DMA that are potentially losing ad revenue because you're watching another city's stations. It can't actually be all that much money, probably a few bucks a month.
So if you are in a "border county" say in Alliance, Ohio, and you want Cleveland and Youngstown locals, you can get both, but pay Cleveland a subsidy fee for the fact that you'll watch Y-town at least some of the time. Perhaps it could be set up so that if you get your own DMA plus another, you pay a half-fee to your own DMA since you'll watch your own locals at least some of the time. Or opt to get another DMA altogether and pay the full fee to your "home" DMA.
Costs a bit of money, but it's a reasonable compromise, IMHO.
The main reason D* and E* can't provide out of market network affiliates just anywhere they wish is to protect the advertising revenue of in-market stations. I don't have a problem with local stations wanting to remain profitable.
Why not allow some type of reimbursement to local stations?
It could work like this. The FCC takes average advertising revenue for each DMA and divides by number of households. If you live in said DMA and want stations from another DMA, you can get them, as long as you can recieve their spotbeam. You pay, through your D* or E* bill, a subsidy fee to the stations in the DMA that are potentially losing ad revenue because you're watching another city's stations. It can't actually be all that much money, probably a few bucks a month.
So if you are in a "border county" say in Alliance, Ohio, and you want Cleveland and Youngstown locals, you can get both, but pay Cleveland a subsidy fee for the fact that you'll watch Y-town at least some of the time. Perhaps it could be set up so that if you get your own DMA plus another, you pay a half-fee to your own DMA since you'll watch your own locals at least some of the time. Or opt to get another DMA altogether and pay the full fee to your "home" DMA.
Costs a bit of money, but it's a reasonable compromise, IMHO.
