Here’s an interesting twist to the claim from cable companies that since broadcasters provide their signals over the air for free, the cable companies shouldn’t have to pay for them. 

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is about to introduce legislation requiring cable, satellite, and other paid TV companies to provide local TV signals by offering a “lifeline service”, similar to that offered by telephone companies.  The basic service would be at a reduced cost and provided indefinitely to people who lose over-the-air TV service as a result of the digital transition next February. Sanders sought support for the bill in a letter last week that was circulated to other senators.

The Vermont Independent isn’t pushing the carriers to charge nothing to the customers, but he is pushing for a nominal amount.  The bill calls for pricing at $10 a month or less, similar to Comcast’s recently announced DTV transition promotion that expires after one year.  “We may go lower,” a Sanders aide said.

By having the bill require a cheap basic package “indefinitely,” Sanders would mean “until the end of time, a long period of time,” his aide said.  “There’s no point in going and doing the legislation if we’re just going to match what Comcast is already doing,” the aide said.

“Regardless of one’s ability to pay, it is unfair to ask consumers who lose their TV reception to pay for what they previously received for free,” Sanders said. “Because the federal government was responsible for mandating this DTV transition, I believe it is the federal government’s duty, along with a wide-range of industry partners, to ensure that our constituents are held harmless.”

The Sanders aide said the bill would establish the criteria for determining who had lost free TV signals and is thus eligible to buy a lifeline service that consisted solely of local TV signals. Money remaining from the federal government’s $1.5 billion converter box coupon program might be used to cover a portion of equipment installation costs, the aide added.

A spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association declined to comment.  No kidding.

Last March, I suggested that, when it came to dealing with ticket scalpers, the NFL ought to look to the NCAA.

Now, it looks that the NCAA is following the NFL’s lead, not on ticket scalping, but on moving their product over to pay services.  The deal they’re making with ESPN will move the football Bowl Championship Series over to the pay cable service.  And off of free television.

The college “championship” games, once available to all of America via free over-the-air broadcast television, now will be seen only by the part of America that can afford to pay for it.  This is in the vein of the NFL’s trend to move more of their games to pay cable with the Monday night deal on ESPN and the creation of the NFL Network.

ESPN will pay a half billion dollars starting in 2011 for a four-year deal that puts the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowl games on cable and satellite.  That’s 25% more than the deal that Fox, which was the incumbent, was willing to pay.  And, it’s nearly 50% more than Fox paid in the last round.

Look for more of this trend.  Paying for watching amateur sports.  And getting commercials too.