The problem is serious enough that both ABC and NBC senior executives have spoken publicly about distributing their networks via cable. Such a discussion would have been unthinkable five years ago. This year, the CBS, ABC and FOX networks anticipate negligible, if any profits. Today, the combined profits of all 4 major broadcast networks, taken together, are less than the profits of TNT or CNN, alone. The economics of network broadcasting on a stand-alone basis in today's video marketplace simply do not work.
Broadcasters have no choice but to compete in the world of consolidation and integration.
In part, the difficulties we face as an industry in Washington are the result of our own internal politics. First, a significant group of multi-billion dollar companies which own broadcast station groups, but not networks, have determined that it is in their individual economic interest to maintain certain government rules like the national cap and must carry rules. Their position is based on their own financial considerations, plain and simple, even though the arguments are dressed up to be about localism and diversity. The success of cable, telephony, computers, radio and any other segment of the entertainment and information world compared to television broadcasting is embarrassing. Affiliates want to restrict networks.