Cable TV providers want Congress to turn back the clock and snag a sweet deal

Under the guise of deregulation, the American Conservative Union informs us, cable companies want to extract a free lunch from Congress.

In a letter to members of Congress, ACU's chairman, Al Cardenas writes:

In 1992 Congress set up "retransmission consent" – a process by which broadcasters and the pay-tv industry would have to negotiate with each other for the use of the broadcast signal. This prevented the pay-tv industry's previous practice of using the signal for free and then profiting from its retransmission by selling the broadcasters’ content as part of their basic service.

Decades after cable transformed the television industry, the most popular networks remain the traditional broadcasters. Why should they get that programming for free and profit from it? While DVR is a tremendous tool that I enjoy from my cable provider--it helped me keep track of Alcatraz--remember, that program, at least for now, is a Fox offering.

But cable providers are lobbying Congress to turn back the clock--kind of like they do on Alcatraz--and set themselves up for a free and sweet deal.

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