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Free TV swallowed by media giants

Over 85% of Americans no longer access their TV over-the-air. They get it from cable and satellite. It is clear from the facts that free TV and pay TV are completely intertwined. A handful of corporations own and control the vast majority of both. Networks are very profitable and their parent corporations own huge pay TV operations that are based on policies for broadcasting-worth many billions. Their fortunes have already been assured by federal policies that provide them with guaranteed cable channel carriage for the stations; additional cable channels for new services, and potential multi-billion payments for carriage of their digital TV services. Decisions about the ownership and control of the media deeply affect the quality of our democracy. They must be based on facts and a clear understanding of the television business as it is today.