Love him or hate him, NAB President Gordon Smith is a conversation piece. Smith, who appeared on C-Span this past weekend, said be believes that retransmission consent, becoming the bane of consumers all over the country, is working just fine and doesn't need any federal interference.
"Just as cable and satellite ask for payment of their produced content, we ask for the same consideration when they take our content and put it through their pipes or bounce it off their satellites. We feel like we're owed something," Smith said.
And for those who complain that retrans fights cause blackouts and headaches for consumers, Smith had this to add: "While there is a rare interruption, the truth of the matter is, 99 percent of these negotiations are carried out without interruption on a market basis."
Speaking of which, 17 Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) markets are still without broadcast signals from LIN Media thanks to a spat between the two that began at midnight Friday.
For more:
- TelevisionBroadcast has this story
- the Tribune Star has this story
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