Super Bowl Could Fuel Cable Fee Fights

When these channels come collecting, and the broadcasters threaten to pull the NBA Finals unless they get a 50-cent bump in their monthly fee, cable providers who can't sell consumers anything beyond an inflationary increase will be making cuts at the low end. Lifetime Real Women, Nick Too and Blackbelt TV -- like CNNfn and MOJO before them -- may get drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

"When they add these new sports channels, they're eating out of their own cash flow because they can't pass it on to the consumer," says SNL Kagan analyst Derek Baine. "You're going to see more negligible networks on the air now being thrown off when they come up for renewal."

-- Reported by Jason Notte in Boston.

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