And although cable has made huge inroads on the delivery side, broadcasters' analog TV transmission business is still regarded as the other side of the Franchise. Because broadcasters have the Franchise, they attract the advertising and they wield the political, social, and economic power that you all know well. But things change. All will rely on digital technology. And the core programming package may or may not be possessed by local broadcasters in the future.
Broadcasters know times are changing.
And they know that tremendous distance seems to be opening between the interests of networks and the interests of affiliates. Affiliates are alarmed by the networks' threats against affiliate exclusivity. When you wish upon that star, it makes a lot of difference who you are. It's troubling to me, too. We're in the last stages of implementing the Congressional mandate to give the DTV licenses to today's analog broadcasters.