DirectTV Biggest Beneficiary of Any Retransmission Rules (DTV)

Earlier this month the FCC said it will propose new rules governing negotiations between television broadcasters and cable providers for the carriage of their channels. The FCC is looking to prevent circumstances that outcome of broadcast channels being pulled from cable providers which, in turn, will leave viewers without television channels. Collins Stewart claims that if any changes were to come about regarding the Retransmission rules, DirectTV DTV would be the biggest beneficiary on the grounds that they have not signed any Retransmission deals with the Owned and Operated (O&O) stations of major broadcasters such as ABC, CBS, Fox, etc. Because the basis of the retransmission rules are contractual licenses with copyright holders, DTV has yet to agree to or sign any deals and therefore will be able to negotiate lower fees than other operators who have already signed or agreed to retransmission deals.