The independent channels say that making independent networks fund their broadcast network competitors by bearing the retrans costs would be a "direct assault" on independent programmers and a threat to the public interest benefit of a diversity of voices. They argue that broadcasters already have "special government-granted privileges," like must-carry and basic tier guarantees, that independent cable programmers don't. Plus, they can bundle their co-owned channels into carriage deals, citing the Disney/Time Warner Cable agreement that included carriage of Disney Junior and ESPN 3D, among others.
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