Harbert: NBC still working on 'complicated' proxy retransmission deal with affiliates

Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBC unit still hasn't reached an agreement with TV station owners which would allow the network to negotiate retransmission consent deals for all of its affiliates, NBC Broadcasting chairman Ted Harbert said Monday.

In addition to negotiating retransmission deals for NBC owned-and-operated stations, the network began floating an idea last year which would allow it to negotiate by proxy for every affiliate in the country in exchange for keeping a cut of the fees stations would collect from cable and satellite providers. But it is finding it difficult to convince TV stations to give NBC a cut of retransmission-consent fees, which stations are relying on more each year to grow revenue.

"I've been working on this for a year and I'm still working on it," Harbert said at the National Association of TV Program Executives conference in Miami on Monday, according to TVNewsCheck. "It's complicated. The difficulty isn't the idea or our relationship with those guys; it's a lot of stations who don't all have the same needs. So, coming up with one document to satisfy them all is complicated."

If NBC succeeds in convincing broadcast affiliates to allow it to negotiate their retransmission-consent deals, the network could help stations avoid disputes such as the one its Boston affiliate WHDH-TV and parent Sunbeam Broadcasting are waging with DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV). It could also ease the negotiation process for cable and satellite affiliates, who wouldn't have to cut separate deals with every NBC affiliate in local markets.

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