Spanish-language broadcasting giant Univision Communications Inc. didn’t quite throw its hat into the retransmission-consent ring, but it told analysts on a conference call discussing first-quarter results that its networks should be worth at least 20 cents per subscriber, per month to cable and satellite operators.
On the conference call, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer Andrew Hobson said retrans pricing is likely to be set by the larger broadcasters like CBS Corp., which recently cut a retrans deal with Verizon Communications Inc. for an estimated 50 cents per subscriber, per month.
“I think pricing for our services will be in part be determined by how the other networks and large station groups set comparables,” Hobson said on the call. “If you look at our networks compared with other niche cable networks, I think our networks deserve about 20 cents per sub on an expanded-basic basis and, on some of the niche tiers many, many times more than that.”
Univision is the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the country, reaching about 98% of Hispanic households in the United States.
