DirecTV CEO Michael White kept the ember of this long-standing idea burning this morning at the Goldman Sachs Annual Communicopia Conference. “Consolidation could be pro-consumer, perhaps,” he told investors, citing, among other things, the soaring programming costs for DirecTV and other pay TV providers.
DirecTV, the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, will cut back on spending in 2012 to prepare for any slowdown in the economy, CEO Michael White said. “We’re tightening our belts in terms of spending,” White says. “We’ll cut back on overhead, hiring and programming.”
Vigilance Is Vital To Hanging On To Retrans
While the FCC’s desire to get back TV spectrum from stations is grabbing a lot of attention, there’s another issue that shouldn’t fall under the industry’s radar. The attempt by cable and satellite operators to get the commission to change the retransmission consent rules to decrease the broadcasters’ leverage. This second revenue stream is vital and is growing more important each year. This is a dangerous proceeding. If broadcasters don’t pay enough attention, all their spread sheets showing steadily rising retrans revenue over the next decade could suddenly become moot.
