Retrans Fiasco: MSOs Could Pay $4.50/Sub for Broadcast Stations

You think retrans fights have been ugly so far? You ain’t seen nothing yet. One of the biggest broadcasters threw down the gauntlet to the cable industry yesterday, saying MSOs will have to shell out $4.50 per sub per month for all broadcast signals in each market, or else… At an investor conference in FL, Sinclair CEO David Smith told the audience that he plans to use this strategy to quadruple retrans revenue to $100mln within 3 years, Harry Jessell reports in his new pub TV Newsday. "It’s very clear to us everybody is going to pay," Smith said. "The only issue is what day and how much." As an example, Smith pointed to Columbus, OH, where Sinclair runs the ABC affiliate and Time Warner Cable is the incumbent MSO. "If Time Warner elects not to do a retrans deal…they have no place to go but down because SBC is going to pay and everybody else already is," Smith said.