Broadcasters set to fight government on retrans process

The National Association of Broadcasters thinks the current process of negotiating new retransmission agreements with service providers works fine and the government should keep its hands off. To make its point, the NAB has created a website that polishes TV's technological image and seeks help from viewers to block any changes the FCC might be considering.

NAB website"If you love local television, let your pay TV provider and Congress know," the site urges.

Almost paradoxically, Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI) could be holding a losing hand in its delayed but ongoing staredown with Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC-WI). BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield has posited that TWC, with Fox Networks already in its pocket as part of a national agreement, is in the driver's seat and should get "notably better" terms from Sinclair "than the deals it has done with owned and operated station groups over the past year."

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