If you're wondering how in the world CNN and MSNBC can have almost no viewers but continue to survive, these fees are why (these fees also explain why your cable bill is so expensive). Currently, if you want Fox News but are forced into a package with CNN in order to get Fox News, CNN's parent company, Turner Broadcasting, earns a piece of your cable bill whether you watch CNN or not.
What absolutely terrifies the likes of CNN and MSNBC is that there is no other format where these obscene carriage fees can be duplicated. Only cable and satellite are NETWORK driven. Every emerging technology, such as streaming, is CONTENT driven. People aren't paying for networks, they are paying for individual shows and movies.