Leonard Asper, president & CEO of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, has sent a letter to FCC chairman Ajit Pai taking aim at the retransmission consent regime, prompted by the retrans disputes between Dish and Scripps (it was settled earlier this week)  and Dish and Cox Media Group (Apollo).

According to a copy of the letter obtained by Multichannel News/B&C, Asper points out that he has both operated local TV stations and, currently, independent programming services (two sports nets. AXS TV and HDNet Movies) "in the context of a worldwide pandemic, economic upheaval and social unrest."

Related: Anthem Sports Buys Majority Stake in AXS TV

It is a context he suggests exposes the cracks and flaws in the retransmission consent/must carry regime that "handicaps" independent programmers.

"We struggle to compete for channel capacity and revenue, both from license fees and ad dollars, against broadcasters’ immense demands on embattled cable and satellite providers," he told Pai. He said those demands include the multicast signals and affiliated cable networks that boost fees to operators that are then passed on to consumers. "These escalating broadcaster demands at each renewal have created an onerous multiplier effect, crowding out carriage by competing programmers, limiting programming diversity and choice for consumers," he said.

Pointing to the Cox and Scripps disputes, he said: "I have had longstanding concerns about retrans, but was prompted to write by the dispute between DISH and the Scripps local stations and Apollo’s Cox Media Group stations. The decision by these station groups to pull their signal - during the pandemic, when local news is of utmost importance, showed a lack of concern for their viewers and disregard for the 'localism' considerations underlying the retransmission consent regime."

Cox has said it offered Dish an extension that would have kept its "trusted stations" on the air "during these times of uncertainty," but that Dish did not agree. Scripps had said its dispute was not about rates but "other distribution terms."

Asper asked Pai to review the retrans rules and recommend changes to Congress to update the "antiquated legislative mandate." 

Asper said he would be happy to continue the discussion remotely or in person when that is allowed. 

"If free market competition is what the FCC seeks, then it should truly enable free market competition and stop granting broadcasters undue market power in the retrans regime," he wrote. 

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. will offer a subscription video-on-demand service featuring content from the Impact Wrestling library, the company announced Tuesday.

The multiplatform digital service, Global Wrestling Network, will be priced at $7.99 per month and will feature over 1,000 hours of original programming from Impact, including every classic pay-per-view event, groundbreaking original series, reality show and documentary, said company officials.

Subscribers will also have free access to episodes of Pop TV’s weekly Impact! Wrestling series as well as new weekly episodes of Xplosion and other original digital content. Global Wrestling Network (GlobalWrestlingNetwork.com) will also feature exclusive events and cards from international promotions and partners, as well as access to live pay-per-view events. 

Toronto-based Anthem, parent of Fight Network and Fantasy Sports Network, acquired a majority interest in TNA Impact Wrestling this past January. It said the new wrestling SVOD service will be available on the web and iOS and Android devices "and coming soon to Roku, Xbox, Amazon Fire TV and Smart TVs."  

“Within just one year, we have made tremendous progress by re-branding and re-energizing the Impact Wrestling product,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Impact Wrestling in a statement. “The launch of the Global Wrestling Network marks a significant milestone in the brand’s digital growth and international expansion. Working with our partners, GWN will create, acquire and curate content from various promotions around the globe to become the leading provider of independent professional wrestling content in the world.”