Do you know how much you pay a month for ESPN? USA Network? Animal Planet? Most people don’t, whether as a result of indifference or just because the information is not that readily available.
According to HowCableShouldBe, cable companies pay Big Media the following amounts every month for the right to carry their channels:
| Network | Cost | Big Media Owner |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN | $3.80/mo. | Disney |
| Fox Sports | $2.25/mo. | News Corp. |
| Nickelodeon | $1.40/mo. | Viacom |
| ESPN2 | $1.05/mo. | Disney |
| TNT | $1.00/mo. | Time-Warner |
| Sci-Fi | $1.00/mo. | NBC-Universal |
| CNN | $1.00/mo. | Time-Warner |
| Disney | $0.95/mo. | Disney |
| CNBC | $0.90/mo. | NBC-Universal |
| Bravo | $0.85/mo. | NBC-Universal |
| USA | $0.85/mo. | NBC-Universal |
| MTV | $0.80/mo. | Viacom |
| AMC | $0.75/mo. | Rainbow Media |
| Fox News | $0.75/mo. | News Corp. |
| FX | $0.75/mo. | News Corp. |
| ABC Family | $0.75/mo. | Disney |
| MSNBC | $0.70/mo. | NBC-Universal |
| TV Land | $0.70/mo. | Viacom |
| Discovery | $0.70/mo. | Discovery |
| NFL | $0.70/mo. | NFL |
| Cartoon Net | $0.70/mo. | Time-Warner |
| Animal Planet | $0.65/mo. | Discovery |
| History Channel | $0.60/mo. | A&E with NBC & Disney |
| TLC | $0.60/mo. | Discovery |
| Travel | $0.60/mo. | Discovery |
| BET | $0.60/mo. | Viacom |
| SPIKE | $0.60/mo. | Viacom |
| Comedy Cent | $0.60/mo. | Viacom |
| HGTV | $0.50/mo. | EW Scripps |
| E! | $0.50/mo. | Comcast/Disney |
| TBS | $0.45/mo. | Time-Warner |
| VH1 | $0.40/mo. | Viacom |
| Oxygen | $0.40/mo. | Oxygen |
| Weather | $0.40/mo. | Landmark Comm. |
| Lifetime | $0.40/mo. | Lifetime/Hearst/Disney |
| A&E | $0.40/mo. | A&E with NBC and Disney |
| Food Net | $0.40/mo. | EW Scripps |
| Hallmark | $0.35/mo. | Crown Media |
| Court TV | $0.35/mo. | Time-Warner |
| CMT | $0.15/mo. | Viacom |
Big Media has gotten very concentrated in the hands of a few corporations. The twenty networks with the highest programming fees are concentrated in the hands of just six media companies. In combination with the cable company’s monopolies, we’ve ended up with an entrenched media-industrial complex that is similar to how the Japanese Keiretsu operated during the post-world war II period. Ten or so large corporations, each of which own varying interests in content production, marketing and distribution.