5 Ways to 'Fix' Retransmission Consent

Retransmission consent has re-entered the public consciousness in a big way in the past few months, with two high-profile battles in New York and more on the way. While most programmers believe the system is fair, distributors have their own solutions to end the stalemates.

Multichannel News talked to parties on both sides and listened to the various fixes. On the less-feasible side are calls to rein in sports salaries, which some argue is the real culprit in high programming costs. Most of the likely changes -- if any come at all -- would require Federal Communications Commission authority to make both sides negotiate in good faith.

1) Require Binding Arbitration. 2) Guarantee Interim Carriage. 3) Repeal or Reform the Cable Act. 4) Allow Importing of Distant Signals. 5) Mandatory Unbundling of Programming.