NBC Retransmission Pays Off For Comcast

A pair of analyst reports yielded notable details about retransmission consent payments, including that Comcast could be on the brink of moving big bucks from one pocket to the other. Other matters involve NBC and its affiliates, and CBS and its Showtime network.

Wells Fargo's Marci Ryvicker wrote that NBC should begin receiving retransmission payments for its 10-owned stations in 2013, which should have Comcast paying itself handsomely. NBC-owned stations reach about 7.2 million homes served by Comcast, where the cable operator will negotiate payments to its NBC Universal unit for carriage rights. Comcast delivers the NBC-owned stations into more homes than any other operator. NBCU, however, should benefit nicely from dollars coming from satellite operator DirecTV, which would pay for approximately 4.7 million homes, and Time Warner Cable for 3.9 million households, Ryvicker noted. Separately, NBC has indicated it plans to negotiate retransmission payments with operators on behalf of its affiliates. And NBC plans on collecting 50% of the compensation, per Ryvicker. While 50% may be a high cut, NBC could use its leverage with operators to help the stations gather more revenue than they could on their own.