Fox News wants a massive increase in its cable fees -- which will be paid for by all cable subscriber

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7. Fox gets big fees because it has popular services.

Fox's deals with the big multi-channel distributors -- Comcast, Charter, Cox to name three -- get it big bucks because those deals cover not only Fox News but a slew of other channels and services, including the Fox owned and operated broadcast channels, Fox Business, Fox Deportes, and some Fox sports channels as well as video on demand and other ancillary rights.

Cable operators pay the fees because they would lose subscribers if they didn't (and they can't collude with one another to all resist paying).

Does it suck that Fox makes so much? Yes. But for someone who doesn't like sports, the fact that ESPN gets even more than Fox in subscriber fees also sucks.

Finally, broadcasters generally were given a huge gift when Congress enacted the 1992 Cable Act "retransmission consent" provision which allows local stations to demand payment for carriage. Over the past 30 years I've worked on dozens and dozens of retransmission consent negotiations. Interestingly, despite the claim in the article that Fox has a history of "deceptive and aggressive negotiating tactics" my experience has been that, at least for the past 10 years, Fox has not been particularly aggressive nor have they been deceptive. However, affiliate groups, such as Sinclair and Gray, to name just two -- have been and continue to be extremely difficult and shady in those negotiations.