TV networks sue nonprofit to kill free TV service

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The major broadcast networks today sued the makers of Locast, a nonprofit organization that provides free online access to broadcast TV stations. The lawsuit filed by ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC seeks financial damages and a permanent injunction that would shut Locast down.

Broadcast TV networks are available for free over the air with an antenna. But selling the rights to retransmit those signals in other ways is a big business. Broadcasters reportedly collected $10.1 billion in 2018 via retransmission fees they charge cable and satellite TV companies.

TV providers routinely pass this cost along to consumers in the form of "Broadcast TV" fees. Pay-TV providers use these fees to raise the actual cost of service above their advertised prices and to raise customers' prices even while they're under contract.

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