Smaller U.S. cablecos to bear the brunt of rising programming costs: report

NEW YORK – Faced with escalating programming costs, diminished bargaining power, and higher competition for ad revenue, smaller U.S. cable operators will feel the impact of programming costs more acutely than their larger peers, according to a new report from Moody?s Investors Service. American content providers both large and small are looking to offset the impact of media fragmentation and increasing competition for advertising revenue with higher subscriber fees. ?The smaller companies have less bargaining power and will therefore likely face steeper increases, limiting their upside growth potential,? says analyst Karen Berckmann in a report entitled Smaller Cable Operators Face Growing Pressure...