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History of Retransmission

Sparklight

1948

Cable Televisions first become available in the United States in 1948, with subscription services to relay over-the-air commercial broadcasting television channels to remote and inaccessible areas.

1948-1972

Cable Television extends the geographic reach of over-the-air television stations and provides for consistently good quality reception not available with a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears.

1972

The FCC implements the "Must Carry Rule." The Must-Carry rule mandates that cable companies carry the signals of all local broadcasters within a 60-mile area.

1992

The FCC gives stations a choice of requiring cable companies to carry them under the must-carry rule or negotiating with cable companies for compensation if they want to carry their broadcast signals.

1992-2005

Cable operators generally resist broadcaster demands for cash compensation on the grounds that the programming was available "off-air" for free. Cable operators often agree to specific channel location, purchase advertising time or to provide other forms of marketing support to the broadcaster.

2005-2010

Broadcasters increase demands for advertising dollars in addition to cash compensation for carriage. Cable companies and other operators begin to agree to cash payments. Occasionally, broadcasters remove a channel from cable operators when fees are in dispute.

2011-2020

Broadcasters ask for gigantic fee increases from distributors – as much as 300%! Broadcasters and operators engage in several public disputes resulting in customer blackouts.