MONTEREY, Calif. – A study analyzing Q3 2011 broadcast TV retransmission revenue indicates a group of 16 TV station owners grew their average monthly retransmission fees per multichannel subscriber by 46.8% between the third quarter of 2009 and the third quarter of 2011 to reach an estimated 33 cents per sub. By comparison, average Q3 2010 fees were estimated at 26 cents reports SNL Kagan.
(The numbers may be of particular interest to Canadian TV broadcasters given that the Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear the fee-for-carriage (or value for signal) appeal on April 19, 2012. As previously reported by Cartt.ca, the CRTC referred the issue’s jurisdictional question to the Federal Court who determined that the Commission does have jurisdiction and can let broadcasters demand a fee from satellite, cable and telco TV carriers for the broadcasters’ off-air signals.)
SNL Kagan’s most recent analysis for third quarter 2011 ranked Univision Communications first at 61 cents per subscriber collected via cable, satellite or telco TV carriers. Sinclair Broadcast Group, with an estimated $35.9 million in retransmission revenue in the third quarter 2011, ranked second at 49 cents per sub per month. Newport Television LLC and LIN TV Corp. ranked third at 48 cents each. CBS Corp, whose owned-and-operated stations generated an estimated $52.3 million in retransmission revenue in third quarter 2011, ranked fourth with retransmission fees reaching approximately 45 cents. In the States, independently-owned and operated affiliate station groups still dominate off-air broadcasting where in Canada, most of local OTA TV stations are corporate-owned.
The study is based on an overlap analysis that combines third quarter 2011 retransmission revenues and overall multichannel subscriber figures in each of the broadcasters’ TV markets.
Going forward, SNL Kagan forecasts that average retransmission fees will remain on an upward trend, given the leverage of valuable programming in 2012, including the Summer Olympics to be held in London from July 27 to Aug. 12.
