I have been getting emails for the past month, give or take, about the possibility of local channels not being carried because of the networks gouging the cable co by raising the retrans 300%, and they want me to "vote" if I agree or not. Personally I believe that the cable co should pay for retrans rights, since the cable co is making money off of these stations. Now the rate charged should be entirely dependant on the size of the system. Personally I think $1/sub is a bit high for OTA networks. But then again, what the cable co typically wants to pay is too low as well. I really don't care myself. I get FOX anyway. I get 43 channels OTA since the DTV switch and that is a good thing. I rarely (less than 3% of my TV viewing) watch any cable programming. The quality of OTA has improved so much that I do not miss cable at all. I do still have cable tho since my wife and kids watch food network and disney etc... but I watch OTA (and I get several channels NOT available on cable). So I won't miss FOX at all. The best part next to the quality of OTA is that it's free. I have $100 in equipment (3 antennas, mast, mast mount, signal joiners, signal booster, etc...) and the investment has payed for itself a few times over already.
The worst thing about cable these days, is that they will raise their rates, even if it is due to paying higher retrans rates, to the point where they will make an even bigger profit, and not spread the wealth to the people who make it all work in the first place. With that in mind I can't feel sorry for the cable co. My tax dollars pay for OTA and by golly I'm going to get my monies worth!
