Commentary

Are You Seeking Bargains Or Premium Play For Your TV Network?

Even with wholesale carriage/retransmission fees for TV networks/stations continuing to grow, many networks/TV stations are a long way from ESPN’s high-carriage pricing levels. 

Where’s the translation retail value for consumers -- especially with new digital providers?

For TV stations, the Federal Communications Commission said there was a strong 43% increase in the monthly fees cable operators pay TV stations -- averaging $1.07 per month in 2014. ESPN, the big sports network, is still in the $6 to $7 per month range -- depending on your favorite TV research firm’s data.

TV stations' efforts around local news content will remain of strong interest to all consumers — as well as pay TV providers and new “skinny” bundle over-the-top services. 

Monthly revenue from pay TV providers to TV stations is steadily rising. All that helps even out those up-and-down local TV advertising revenue periods -- especially those down years without Olympics or big political TV campaigns.

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While consumers continue to look for cheaper pay TV packages, basic cable programming retail pricing is growing at a slower rate -- up 2.7% to an average $69.03 per month in 2015, per the FCC. Now, the price per channel -- for all TV networks/content providers -- comes to an average 46 cents. 

What would be better, of course, is for more TV research to break this down into more specific data -- focusing on those nine  to 12 or so networks/TV stations consumers regularly tune into. 

Maybe a TV station will see a value of more than $1 a month to some; possibly ESPN, in some viewers eyes, might be really worth $10 a month.

TV consumers will increasingly try to make those calculations themselves when considering how many new OTT services and platforms to buy. That includes those from traditional pay TV companies, which given cord-cutting, consumers may be looking to exit.

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