CBS local affiliates have rejoined Fubo’s virtual MVPD TV lineup after being pulled from the live streaming TV service earlier this year amid a renewal spat with Paramount Global. On Friday a Fubo spokesperson said: “Virtually all CBS local affiliates have returned to Fubo and are now live.” It marks the latest resolution in a somewhat messy carriage dispute that pitted the CBS affiliate board and its represented local station owners against Paramount Global.
The blackout of CBS affiliates on FuboTV reflects the increasing tension between broadcast networks and their affiliates as TV pivots to streaming. “Having worked around public and private TV broadcasters these last few years, we think dynamics between national networks and station operators are increasingly strained,” Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall said.
Paramount told CBS affiliates that they had until 5 p.m. today to agree to a retransmission consent deal that it had struck with Fubo or they would replace them on the vMVPD with a CBS “network feed” without the affiliates’ local programming, according to a CBS affiliate board email sent Friday afternoon to its members.
The broadcast network affiliates want the FCC to “clarify” that its new enhanced sponsorship ID rules for foreign-owned government-supplied programming does not apply to long-form advertising (infomercials). The FCC in April voted to boost broadcasters’ disclosure requirements for programming on airtime leased by a foreign entity. The move comes amidst heightened focus on disinformation campaigns and despite some pushback from broadcasters, who argue the FCC is adding regs to an already overregulated service.
Including the 35, Hulu says it now has 90 CBS stations on board..The expansion comes after CBS and the CBS Affiliates Board reached an agreement earlier this year clearing the way for the affiliates to be distributed on streaming platforms like Hulu.
KBJO, branded as “CBS St. Joseph,” is scheduled to begin broadcasting on June 1, according to News-Press & Gazette Co.
Exclusives
Reactions from affiliates after a briefing on the CBS All Access streaming service show recognition that the move into program streaming is inevitable, and not unwelcome, in their view, despite the many challenges still to be overcome.
The nascent OTT service took up most of Monday’s meeting between the network and the CBS Affiliate Advisory Board and is likely to be the topic of today’s special meeting of all the affils, who now have the contract language that calls for CBS to increase payments to participating affiliates as they reach various goals.
The station groups agree not to fight the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger with a series of conditions that would bar Comcast from discriminating in favor of NBCU-owned or operated stations over retransmission consent — and other issues — for 10 years after the TWC deal closes.
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Les Moonves: CBS Loves Its Affils, But…
The company’s CEO says that while he believes the affiliate system is “healthy,” CBS has got contingency plans if they can’t deliver in the future. The network is also ratcheting up the financial pressure on affiliates with its reverse compensation requirements and is on track to hit $2 billion in retrans and reverse comp revenues by 2020.
A group of 18 CBS affiliates argue in new court papers that Aereo’s lawsuit against them should be thrown out on the grounds that it raises questions that are already pending in litigation between CBS and Aereo.
CBS Slow On Affiliate Streaming Plan
While the other Big Four broadcast networks are working on plans to let their affiliates stream a combination of network and local content to smartphones and other wireless devices, CBS looks to be lagging behind.
CBS Adding Gray’s KNPL As Affiliate
Beginning Sept. 1, North Platte, Neb., will have its own CBS affiliate.
KXTS-LP Becomes Latest CBS Affiliate
CBS has signed an affiliation agreement with Saga Communications Inc.’s current MNT affiliate KXTS-LP Victoria, Texas. The affiliation is effective Sept. 12
The new head of CBS News tells the CBS Affiliates Board that he’s focused on improving the CBS Morning News and the CBS Evening News. Said WGCL’s Kirk Black: “He’s passionate and seems really motivated, almost like a station guy. He wants to get out there and get things pointed in the right direction.” Other issues on the board’s agenda were the new NCAA March Madness deal and the fate of the locked-out NFL.
Raycom Executes DIY Programming Plan
The COO of the nation’s 15th largest station group believes broadcasters need to wean themselves from their heavy dependence on Hollywood syndicators. With that in mind, he says, Raycom is developing its own shows and looking for broadcasters outside of Raycom markets to give them national reach. In this interview, Daugherty also talks about how business is pacing, mobile DTV, the FCC spectrum grab, virtual duopolies, the sharing of retrans revenue with the networks and more.
