Ugly battle between CBS and affiliates adds another wrinkle to Paramount deal

The obstacles impeding Paramount’s $8 billion sale to Skydance keep piling up, and much of it involves CBS, the so-called Tiffany Network, and whether it has shed its rep for disseminating honest news.Another major hurdle getting a lot less attention but could loom just as important is a nasty battle between CBS, Paramount’s news and entertainment subsidiary, and around 70 affiliates, the local broadcast stations that are independently owned, largely in Middle America, aka Trump Country, The Post has learned.They are crying foul to the administration because CBS wants to jack up prices to carry its programming and they say the price hikes are making it difficult for them to survive.Their plight could give the President Trump-appointed broadcast regulators at the Federal Communications Commission yet another reason to nix the Skydance deal given the administration’s desire to protect local broadcast news.Unless, of course, CBS backs off, something it has so far been loath to do given the pressures on its bottom line, sources said.Most Americans don’t appreciate the complex business dealings that go into watching a football game or a sitcom on their local affiliate.

Here’s a 30,000-foot explanation.Cable companies pay local broadcasters like Sinclair, Nexstar, Gray Media and Cox Media for their signal so they can run their lines into the homes of millions of Americans.Yes, it’s a shrinking number of viewers and a demo that skews older but it’s still substantial.

There’s money to be made reaching this audience in terms of fees and advertising.That’s why local broadcasters become “affiliates” of major news networks and pay for their programming.The entire arrangement is under stress, however.

Cord cutting has pulled viewers away from network programming and cable fees are under pressure because there are fewer viewers.Ad rates are falling.

Networks are moving programming to their streaming services, most of which aren’t profitable.The affil...