CBS Uses Retrans Consent To Leverage Fees and Cable Distribution

There was a time when CBS seemed to lag behind other broadcast nets both in using retrans consent to leverage increased distribution for owned and/or managed cable channels like CBS College Sports and Smithsonian Channel.

The announced 10 year retrans agreement with Comcast, which includes increased linear, digital and on-demand distribution of Showtime, Smithsonian and CBS College Sports, as well as fees for carriage of the broadcast stations, shows powerful retrans consent has become as both a revenue stream and multichannel distribution lever.

Comcast gains the long-term assurance of locked in rates and increased access to CBS content across platforms from cable and broadcast content. Similarly, CBS is assured of a locked in revenue stream and obtains the ad sales, marketing and promotional value from increased distribution of its content.

With Congress and the FCC apparently satisfied with the current must-carry/retrans regime, the power of restrans consent to create revenue and distribution opportunities is stronger than ever.