Retransmission Consent Fee

The Retransmission Consent Fee is assessed on all video subscribers’ bills. Retransmission Consent refers to a regulatory structure created nearly twenty years ago that allows local broadcast networks/TV stations (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) to charge cable companies to broadcast their networks over their systems. These fees are applicable to all cable and satellite companies, even though the broadcast channels are free to consumers who receive them via an over the air antenna.

The Retransmission Consent contract rates are negotiated on a three-year cycle to establish rates for each of the three years following a negotiation period. The rate NEIT subscribers pay as a Retransmission Consent Fee is exactly equal to the sum of the per subscriber fees NEIT pays to carry these broadcast stations. Unfortunately, an annual rate adjustment is required to follow the rates charged to NEIT by the local broadcast networks. The rates the programmers charge have been increasing an average of 4 times the rate of inflation, despite the negotiating efforts of NEIT and the negotiating groups it participates in.

NEIT does not believe that the Retransmission Consent Fees that are passed on to subscribers are fair. If you agree and would like to voice your opinion, please do so by reaching out to your representatives in the State and Federal Legislature. Only the Congress can change the structure by which these fees are imposed.