Retransmission Revenue Seen Hitting $7.6B By 2019

TV broadcasters’ retransmission consent revenue will come in at $4.3 billion in 2014 and continue to grow at a brisk pace, hitting $5.1 billion in 2015 and $7.6 billion in 2019, according to the latest analysis from SNL Kagan.

According to the research, retransmission revenue is also becoming a rapidly growing share of station group’s total revenue. Among the 18 groups covered in the research, the share ranged from 24% (Meredith) to 10% (Scripps) in 2013. Others getting more than 20% of their revenue from retransmission include Sinclair (24%), CBS (23%), Fox (22%), Nexstar (20%), Allbritton (20%) and LIN (20%).

The research also found a broad range of retransmission revenue on a per-subscriber, per month basis. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Sinclair was at the top, earning $1.07. Right behind were LIN ($1.06), Fox (96 cents) and Meredith (96 cents).

Despite the growth, what broadcasters receive from multichannel video program providers will continue to be dwarfed by what basic cable networks and regional sports channels receive, the research says. Retransmission will amount to only 10.5% of the cable programming fees in 2014 and 11.4% in 2015.