The American Cable Association has launched a new public relations campaign blaming "out-of-control" fees charged by broadcasters for cutting off customers from local news and TV stations, particularly during disasters such as the recent hurricanes that hit the U.S.

The national "TV Ransom" campaign will "set the record straight that corporate broadcasters are to blame for out-of-control retransmission consent fees and TV station blackouts that blindside consumers with the needless loss of their favorite news, weather reports, and national sporting and entertainment events," ACA said in a statement Wednesday.

Retransmission consent fees are those that cable providers pay local TV broadcast stations for the right to carry their programming. The fees have become a major source of revenue for many broadcasters in recent years as revenue from advertising has declined.

ACA said its 750 small and mid-sized cable operators are at a disadvantage when negotiating fee rates given that most broadcast stations are now owned by a few media conglomerates. The result has been higher cable bills for customers, according to the association.

"Retransmission consent should be a straight-forward business negotiation, but, unfortunately, these corporate broadcasters abuse their market power to extract outrageous fees from cable customers," ACA CEO Matthew Polka said.

The association pointed to examples of what it said were broadcasters using their market dominance to gain an unfair leverage in fee negotiations, including one company that allegedly pulled the rights for cable companies to air local programming to communities in the path of Hurricane Irma.

ACA didn't say what form the TV Ransom campaign will take in coming months.

The National Association of Broadcasters did not issue any immediate responses to the new campaign, but in the past the group has urged lawmakers to stay out of retransmission consent negotiations and allow the free market to decide rates. http://bit.ly/2xZkP77

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