How did they make their money before cable existed and we got into this retransmission mess? Nobody was paying them for the content received over-the-air.
(I think the answer is advertisements, but I'm open to other possibilities.)
Yep it was mostly local advertising. The biggest problem for local broadcasters is their costs for have gone up dramatically while viewership has declined. Bad mix.
(I think the answer is advertisements, but I'm open to other possibilities.)