Is that a twitch? Faint signs of life in advertising along with cost-cutting helped US media companies, including Viacom and Time Warner, to post better-than-forecast third-quarter numbers. But with “free” content out of fashion in the post-slump era, the question now is who will pay for what. Rupert Murdoch, boss of News Corp, wants to charge for all online newspaper content. The media magnate is also battling to raise so-called retransmission fees paid by distributors of content produced by its Fox network.

Retrans fees are paid by cable and satellite operators to TV stations. Currently, most broadcast fees go to affiliate stations, rather than those owned by the US networks – ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. But the big four could reap much more if they succeed in raising fees per subscriber. Proposed rises could mean additional annual costs of $4.3bn for the cable and satellite industry, estimates Bernstein Research. Marked up and passed on to viewers, that suggests a $13bn bill for US households, 90 per cent of whom watch network programming over pay-TV.