Disney announced that small cable operators in the 10 markets where it has ABC O&O stations will be able to get retransmission consent for the next three years. The offer covers 91 of the 113 cable operators in the ABC O&O markets, but not the major MSOs. The Alphabet Net has O&Os in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, Fresno, Flint and Toledo. In return, ABC will get favorable channel positioning for its cable programming – things like putting various incarnations of ESPN on consecutive channels. The deal was hailed by American Cable Association President Matt Polka.
Meanwhile, ACA is petitioning the FCC and Congress for a retransmission consent “quiet period” extending from the beginning of 2009 through 5/31/09. Polka pointed out that a common retrans negotiation ploy is withdrawal of carriage rights, particularly when smaller cable operators are involved. In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Polka said that numerous existing retrans contracts expire 12/31/08, and that it is within the FCC’s authority to impose the “quiet period” to help assure the success of the transition. He made the same points in a letter to key House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet legislators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL).
RBR/TVBR observation: We’d bet that every one of those 91 small cable operators is writing big checks to Disney for ESPN, plus some other cable nets, so it’s not like the Mouse is giving away everything for free. But this move should score some points with the FCC and on Capitol Hill for Disney being flexible on retrans and accommodating to small operators. Then it can buckle down for some hard-nosed, big-bucks negotiations with Comcast, Time Warner and the like.
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