The Must-Carry rule

[Alley_Dweller]

@nightshadea

actually isnt ABc owned by Disney ? here in CA Disney owns the affiliate also

Yes, ABC is owned by Disney.

While Disney may own some ABC affiliates in CA (and other states), it doesn’t own all of them.

[kenobi_65]

@Alley_Dweller

Yes, ABC is owned by Disney.

While Disney may own some ABC affiliates in CA (and other states), it doesn’t own all of them.

This. Each of the US broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW) has a small number of “owned-and-operated” local affiliates (typically, but not always, in the largest markets); all of their other affiliates are owned by other companies.

A list of the current and former “owned and operated” stations for each network is on Wikipedia:

Owned-and-operated television stations in the United States | O&O stations of U.S. broadcast television networks

[UltraVires]

@Lord_Feldon

Yeah, that’s my position too. There should be may-carry rights alongside must-carry. The station should be able to insist on carriage for free, and the cable/satellite company should be allowed to put up an antenna and retransmit any TV signal within its legally designated market, acting as an agent of their customers who have a right to view the channel for free. If either side wants more than that, they can negotiate for it (for instance, the cable company might prefer to pay for a more reliable signal, or might want to buy some ad slots off of the station to use for its own clients).

The terrible-but-correct Aereo ruling a few years ago was, sadly, not a catalyst for any reforms, so I doubt this will ever happen.

Just to follow up as this thread seems to be on life support. Why should it only be restricted to your local area? Let’s say that the CBS channel in my local area is Channel 5-WDTV. But for whatever reason, I think that channel is shit. I own 20 acres and have a big hill. I can place an antenna on top of the hill and pick up CBS channel 2-KDKA out of Pittsburgh. There’s nothing illegal about that, right? I don’t think so (I hope not).

Anyways, let’s say I didn’t have a big hill, but my neighbor does. Wouldn’t it be just as legal for me to pay him for the permission to put an antenna on his hill and run it to my house? Again, I think so.

Now, suppose I live in the suburbs and don’t own a big hill nor have neighbors with big hills. Can I not pay more for equipment, put up an antenna 10 miles away (with landowner permission) and direct the signal to my house online? I think, again, yes.

So, let’s say that I am a 95 year old man who cannot maintain antenna equipment. Can I not pay someone to install this equipment whether on my own land, the neighbor’s land, or on the 10 mile away guy? I think yes.

I think you see where I am going. If we take each incremental step, where does the illegality start if I pay Aereo to put an antenna in Los Angeles and have them send the LA CBS station to me over the internet?