Broadcast retrans fee growth on pace to hit $9.3B by 2020

The pace of broadcast retransmission fee growth is quickening, SNL Kagan reports, with new projections putting the total retrans nut at $9.3 billion by 2020.

The growth projections, the research company says, are based on recent negotiations calling for rising per-month fees for TV station owners. Current retrans levels stand at around $4.9 billion.

Last year, SNL Kagan projected total retrans would reach $7.64 billion by 2019; the company's new prediction says it will tally around $8.78 billion by 2019.

By 2017, the firm predicts that aggregate retrans fees will average about $1.32 per subscriber, which would rank as more expensive than all but five cable channels. (Notably, SNL Kagan projects ESPN to cost $7.72 a sub by 2017.)

Meanwhile, the research company also updated its projections for reverse retrans--the funds that go from affiliate and owned-and-operated stations back to network partners. The new predictions show reverse retrans increasing from $1.53 billion in 2015 to $3.22 billion in 2020.

For more:
- read this SNL Kagan press release

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