Retransmission worry: broadcast TV seen as a valuable commodity

Here's something for cable operators to chew on as they get ready for a long summer of hot must-carry/retransmission issues with local broadcasters: Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) Chief Executive Bob Iger said that tough negotiations between stations and cable operators only prove the MSOs "are willing to recognize the great value" of local TV. Disney, of course, believed its content was so valuable that it pulled it off Cablevision Systems' (NYSE: CVC) New York during a fight that extended into the Academy Awards broadcast.

That value will be enhanced when broadcast channels are "stitched into other products like cable or Internet entertainment," said Quentin Hardy, national editor at Forbes, who listened to what was being said at All Things Digital and concluded that in spite of talk about narrowcast and long-tail content on the Internet, "We are a hit-driven world and broadcast is a big part of that."

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