said by rody_44: I dont know where you people are getting your info. But the fact is cable companies pay to rebroadcast the channels they are affiliated with. Where they get them is on the sub stations but the fact is the Cable companies have to pay to get the sub stations or they dont get carried at all. Its all or none. there isnt any stations declaring must carry anymore. Thats gone bye bye with the dildo birds. Fox is by far the most greedy as there numbers are insane. Its like 40 cents for the dam fox news channel. The cable companies either pay it or lose the main fox station. That doesnt include the fox movie station which is also insane and the other fox affiliates. I believe fox alone accounts for nearly 1.75 a sub in some areas. But again how can a cable company not pay it when they have the world series along with most football games for regional games. We all remember when cablevision tryed saying no. It didnt work out to well for them did it? Within 5 years its safe to assume your so called OTA stations will account for a good chunk of your subscription rate.
While true, this has nothing to do with the gist of the thread, which is that getting rid of clear QAM HD locals means that you could have new outlet fees for every TV in your house that you may not have had before. The rate you pay for locals is already built into the package price, and the new outlet (or box rental) fees are just extra profit, especially when you consider how cheap these new HD boxes are.