Time Warner Cable Thinks Aereo TV Outcome May Help Stop Retransmission Fees

CEO Glenn Britt of Time Warner Cable (TWC), told an analyst yesterday that if courts ruled in favor of allowing Aereo TV to continue with its business, it could pave the way for TWC to get out of paying retransmission-consent fees.

Aereo TV began its streaming TV service a little over a month ago, offering TV viewers in New York City an alternative to receiving over-the-air broadcast channels. The service uses a large array of tiny antennas to serve broadcast content over the internet to subscriber's smart phones, computers, and web connected TVs. Aereo TV charges $12 a month for the service.

Broadcast networks have mounted a legal claim against Aereo TV, which argue that the streaming service is illegally transmitting content without a license.

Britt mentioned in a yesterday's quarterly earnings call,

TWC has been embattled with various broadcast networks over the years for retransmission fees (costs to rebroadcast local tv stations on their cable network). Disagreements on payment terms have resulted in broadcast stations pulling their feeds from Time Warner's subscribers for days, or sometimes weeks until an agreement has been made.

A court victory for Aereo TV would most likely give TWC bargaining power with broadcast networks, providing an alternative means for Time Warner, should networks try to pull their stations from the cable provider's lineup.