Locals Channel Package

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CBS CEO Les Moonves acts like the restransmission fees is how CBS makes the money and it's only going to increase over the years according to a statement he made last Fall:

CBS is on track to receive by 2020 more than $2 billion a year from broadcast retransmission licensing fees from pay-TV operators, as well as "reverse compensation" fees from broadcast stations for the rights to air its programming. CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves disclosed the figures during the programmer's second quarter earnings call with media analysts. "We had previously said we'd get to $1 billion by 2017. We will now surpass that target next year in 2016. These are dollars that fall right to the bottom line," Moonves said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the earnings call. (Courtesy of FierceCable, fiercecable.com)

It sounds like the TV stations have to ask high dollar from providers in order to pay the network's reverse compensation fees--at least in CBS's case...In the past free to air stations were paid by their network affiliates to air network programming. Today that is not the case.

But regardless there needs to be limits. They can't expect Dish and others to just pay whatever their asking and use a low rated cable station like WGN America in the deal. It sounds like the deals for off air channels and cable networks need to be separate regardless of ownership. I remember when ABC/Disney cut off their O&O local stations to get providers to pick up SoapNet and some of their other cable offerings.

 

[bspei]

The local stations are buying expensive vans and equipment to show it is colder than heck.
I all ready knew that.


Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys mobile app

 

[pattykay]

It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to put each satellite in orbit. Let's say you had a locals only package at $15. If everyone bought just that package you can't make enough money to stay in business....

If everyone bought just that package, all of the national channels would go out of business, and Dish could save a ton of money by not carrying them.

 

[DishSubLA]

CBS CEO Les Moonves acts like the restransmission fees is how CBS makes the money and it's only going to increase over the years according to a statement he made last Fall:

CBS is on track to receive by 2020 more than $2 billion a year from broadcast retransmission licensing fees from pay-TV operators, as well as "reverse compensation" fees from broadcast stations for the rights to air its programming. CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves disclosed the figures during the programmer's second quarter earnings call with media analysts. "We had previously said we'd get to $1 billion by 2017. We will now surpass that target next year in 2016. These are dollars that fall right to the bottom line," Moonves said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the earnings call. (Courtesy of FierceCable, fiercecable.com)

It sounds like the TV stations have to ask high dollar from providers in order to pay the network's reverse compensation fees--at least in CBS's case...In the past free to air stations were paid by their network affiliates to air network programming. Today that is not the case.

But regardless there needs to be limits. They can't expect Dish and others to just pay whatever their asking and use a low rated cable station like WGN America in the deal. It sounds like the deals for off air channels and cable networks need to be separate regardless of ownership. I remember when ABC/Disney cut off their O&O local stations to get providers to pick up SoapNet and some of their other cable offerings.

And to make it worse, Sony is paying Les and others so that O&O's can be offered to its Vue TV service. Any other entrant to the OTT pay TV biz like Sling, etc. may eventually have to pay the big 4 money as well since people really do covet their local stations. So Les and company have even greener pastures ahead of them. Yeck!