Here’s the basic idea:

• Broadcasters pay producers a fee to air their program under agreed terms for a specific territory
• These TV stations broadcast signals containing the programs
• Retransmitters (mainly cable and satellite companies) capture these signals and sell them as part of their service to subscribers
• These retransmitters must pay royalties for programs in broadcast signals classed as ‘distant’ (that is, over-the-air signals captured by them and, with a satellite or microwave boost, retransmitted to a territory beyond their normal reception area) to compensate copyright owners for the use of these programs in those distant places
• Copyright owners receive royalties for programs included in these retransmissions (these royalties are collected and distributed through collective societies such as the CRC)


Here’s how it works in practice:

Let’s say you live in Edmonton. You’re eager to watch some PBS shows you’ve heard about. The PBS signal comes out of Washington, but doesn’t reach as far as central Alberta. Lucky for you, your cable company captures the signal, and retransmits it to subscribers. You sign up. You see your program. The cable company pays retransmission royalties. The program owner gets compensated. And everybody’s happy.