Cable Operators, Local Affiliates Take Retransmission Fight to D.C.

TV broadcasters plugging retransmission consent revenue into their budgets for 2009 and beyond, take note.
Cable operators will be making another charge in Washington next year to undermine the ability of TV stations to negotiate for retrans payments.
"The cable guys will use everything they can to weaken the retransmission consent process," says one broadcast lobbyist
"Broadcasters need to be on guard," warns another.
Leading the charge will be the American Cable Association, a trade group representing small cable operators.
But it will not be alone, according to NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton. "This has always been an issue for the giant cable monopolists that want a free ride. Comcast and Time Warner have been solidly behind this."
Earlier cable assaults on retrans have produced little, but ACA President Matthew Polka remains optimistic.
"Hopefully with a new Congress, a new administration and a new FCC there may be a greater appetite for looking at the overall landscape of the communications industry."
The cable operators wants to relax restrictions that now bar operators from importing TV signals from adjacent markets.
Without the tight restrictions, cable operators will have much greater leverage in retrans negotiations with local network affiliates. If the operators cannot make a deal, they can import the affiliate of the same network from the market next door.

http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/06/25/daily.3/