Content may be king, but distribution still has a little muscle to flex

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The mantra of the entertainment industry has always been content is king.

For years, both broadcast and cable networks have been having their way with their distribution partners. But there are some recent signs that the distribution side of the business can still be a thorn in content’s side.

Most recently, Fox was ultimately unable to do a deal with Conan O’Brien because it decided the battle to get into late-night programming against the wishes of its affiliates would be bloody, so it backed down. NBC yanked Jay Leno out of prime time and put him back in late night because its local affiliates were getting ready to drop the comedian’s 10 p.m. show and take the hour back for themselves.

On the cable front, Comcast and other distributors are pushing cable networks to offer their content online only to people who already pay for cable through an industry-wide effort known as ‘TV Everywhere.’ Since cable operators pay a lot to carry channels such as TNT and USA, the last thing they want is that content online for free (or for a price if they are not getting a piece of it). And since most of the audience for those shows still watches primarily on television, cable networks don’t want to annoy the people who supply at least half of their revenue.

Online, the video site Hulu is moving much closer to some sort of subscription model. While that is in part because program suppliers want to protect the value of their reruns, it is also because distributors are getting tired of how the networks are making it oh so easy to watch their shows on other outlets. Tuesday’s episode of ‘Glee’ is already on Hulu less than 24 hours later.

To be sure, the networks still have most of the juice in this relationship. The broadcast networks rarely pay their affiliates to carry their programming anymore. In fact, now they are starting to get paid by their stations. They still get most of their affiliates’ commercial time to sell as well. Cable networks are constantly raising the prices they charge cable and satellite operators.

But every now and then, as was the case with O’Brien and Leno in broadcast TV and TV Everywhere in cable, distribution still has some muscle.

-- Joe Flint