> Mostly correct, but what's at stake here isn't the cable fees so much as the local/affiliate fees. I don't see how local affiliate fees themselves are direct

> Mostly correct, but what's at stake here isn't the cable fees so much as the local/affiliate fees. I don't see how local affiliate fees themselves are directly at risk for the broadcast networks. The local OTA broadcasts of the public channels are generated by the local affiliates, who contribute local programming to the broadcast, such as news. The cable companies therefore have to pay the local affiliates, who in turn pay the national broadcast networks. The local/affiliate fees are only the proximal revenue source for the broadcast networks - the original source is the cable fees.