My cable bill hits $140 a month. That includes a $47 package of family cable channels, a digital services package, a digital set-top box, a digital recording service, Internet access, one phone line and $7.52 of taxes and fees. No payments for premium networks, such as Showtime or HBO.

And no payments to local television stations...

To provide that choice, cable operators have to have the right — like satellite competitors do — to place the stations in a local broadcast tier. Then, give the local stations payments based only on those viewers who directly choose to subscribe to them.

While we’re at it, let’s blow up the broadcast-affiliate network system. It’s archaic and inefficient. Why are we allowing the same amount of a scarce resource (spectrum) be used to serve 15% of the American population as we did 50 years ago for 100%? Or, more, if you count the spectrum being used in the transition to digital broadcasting?

Time to kill all broadcast towers. There’s ample capacity for the once broadly cast programmers to reach all U.S. households through satellite, cable and phone line. Put the spectrum — which J.H. Snider, research director at the New America Foundation, estimates to be worth $100 billion — to better use for the kinds of things over-the-air frequencies really should be be used for: Defense, emergencies and, in entertainment, filling iPods, cellphones and portable media players.

The broadcast affiliates will groan. But cable channels can be just as valid local programming producers and distributors. Make them your affiliates.

If broadcasters (or the FCC) won’t let consumers vote directly with their dollars, then don’t allow any payments to broadcasters at all...

For the complete article, please visit the Multichannel News website.