As the retransmission-consent debate heats up in Washington, Discovery Communications president of digital media and corporate development Bruce Campbell weighed in at an industry conference Wednesday, saying rising retrans fees could have a big impact on the competitive landscape for cable networks.
Speaking at the Bloomberg/BusinessWeek Media Summit New York here, Campbell said that retrans is becoming a big issue for cable programmers. He added that as broadcasters squeeze more cash from cable operators for retrans, the implications are not only that there could be a smaller pool of money for cable networks, but that it could tip the competitive scale back toward broadcasters.
"Now you're going to have the big broadcast networks with this infusion of cash," Campbell said "Where is that going? Clearly a lot of it is going to go into sports rights. What does that mean for the sports landscape, but also what does it mean for us as competitors for that programming? In terms of what's changed, that's a big, big change for all of us."
Campbell's comments come in contrast with those of Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said at another industry conference. At the Credit Suisse Global Media & Communications Convergence Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, Bewkes said that retrans could be a boon for its Warner Bros. production arm -- which develops and sells shows to broadcasters -- and its Turner Networks cable unit.
"We have a very big business, we sell to all four networks, and their ability to continue that profitable business is good for Warner Bros. and good on the Turner side since a significant staple of those properties is the acquired series that we produce. Having this ecosystem will help TNT and TBS," Bewkes said.
