The latest cycle of retransmission consent negotiations is drawing to a close. The negotiations  have been acrimonious, with significant rate hikes on the horizon.  Cable and DBS continue to call for FCC retrans rules with some teeth, while broadcasters question why negotiations over broadcast carriage should be treated differently than other programming.  In the meantime, the FCC has failed to issue its long-awaited new rules but it is now examining joint negotiations by unaffiliated stations.  How will cable operators implement the rate increases, and how will consumers react?   Do blackouts remain a possibility?   Is action by the Commission or Congress necessary or desirable?  What effect will the new carriage rates have on the future of television?  Co-hosts Jim Baller and Marty Stern have reassembled their highly popular panel of experts on retransmission consent for another lively debate on the economics and politics driving these issues.

YOUR HOSTS:

	Jim Baller Principal The Baller Herbst Law Group
	Marty Stern Partner, K&L Gates

PANEL OF EXPERTS:

	John Bergmayer, Public Knowledge
	Antoinette Cook Bush, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom LLP
	John Hane, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
	Ross Lieberman, American Cable Association
	Cristina Pauze, Time Warner Cable
	Richard Waysdorf, Starz Entertainment