Miscellaneous
With an estimated $11 billion in payments in 2019 moving from consumers to just a handful of corporate TV station owners like Nexstar, Sinclair and the “Big 4” networks, never has the price of “free TV” been so expensive. For this sad state of affairs, consumers who are pay-TV customers of hundreds of ACA Connects members can thank a federal policy called “retransmission consent.” At the end of year, consumer protections found in federal law -- one of which requires TV stations to negotiate in good faith, while another bans exclusive retrans contracts -- will expire if the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act of 2014 (STELAR) is not renewed by Dec. 31. Typically, In order to maximize their retransmission consent revenue, the broadcasters and networks want these consumer protections to go away. In this new episode of our ACA Connects podcast, ACA Connects President and CEO Matthew M. Polka and his ACA Connects Member guests take a close look at retransmission consent and its harms and distortions that plague smaller multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). For example, capital required to deploy broadband in rural America is diverted in the form of retrans payments to monopoly TV stations (notwithstanding their sagging ratings). Meanwhile, the cost of retrans has gotten so out of control and TV stations’ signal blackouts so off the charts that some cable TV companies are in fact considering exiting the traditional video business in favor of a broadband-exclusive focus. Joining Matt on this podcast are: • Aaron Bradshaw, CEO and General Manager, CoMo Connect, Powered by Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, Inc.• Ben Moncrief, SVP of Strategic Relations, C-Spire• Darren Moser, CFO, AcenTek• Frank Scotello, SVP of Operations and Programming, Pulse Broadband