History of Retransmission

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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