SNL Kagan: Station Retrans Fees To Reach $7.6B in 2019

SNL Kagan has revised its projection upward for the amount of retransmission-consent fees TV station owners will collect over the course of this decade.

The Monterey, Calif.-headquartered researcher forecasts that retrans fees will reach $7.6 billion fees in 2019, up from $3.3 billion this year. SNL Kagan attributes the growth projection to the rising monthly sub fees TV station owners have garnered in recent negotiations, as well as the consolidation of the business over the last couple years, which has often led to higher retrans rates after acquired stations are brought under larger groups' umbrellas.

SNL Kagan's current projections call for retrans revenues to jump to $7.15 billion by 2018, compared with the group's 2012 forecast of $6.05 billion for that year. SNL Kagan said the environment has improved for TV station owners, which have increasingly obtained rates they believe are closer to the value they bring to multichannel video services.

For the full story go to Multichannel.com.