CBS Plan to Charge for Programs Irks Stations : Entertainment: The network says it faces lower profits and increased competition from Fox and the cable industry.

A CBS plan to charge affiliates fees to carry certain programming is facing criticism from stations worried about higher costs.

CBS said the move, announced after a meeting Saturday with affiliates, is needed to help offset lower profits and increased competition from the Fox television network and the cable industry.

Networks, which tend to follow each other when it comes to compensation plans, typically pay their affiliates to run their shows.

A CBS spokeswoman said Sunday that some stations have registered complaints about the new plan. Stations, like the networks that feed them national programming, have been hit hard by slumping television advertising the past few years,

“Obviously some of them expressed some displeasure and some concern,” said the spokeswoman, who asked that her name not be used. She said stations have known since October that CBS was planning a change.

Anthony Malara, CBS’ president of affiliate relations, on Saturday described the move as the most significant change in the network’s relationship with affiliates in 25 years.

NBC is discussing compensation plans with its affiliates, said spokeswoman Lynn Applebaum, who declined to elaborate. An ABC spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

CBS’ move comes after the network last year cut its compensation to local stations from $150 million to $121 million.

It still plans to compensate its affiliate stations, but beginning Jan. 1, the affiliates will have to pay a charge to the network for some shows. The rate will depend upon market size.

For the top 100 markets, for example, the charge would be 25% of compensation. The bottom 200 stations would give back 15%.

In addition, CBS intends to graduate its payments to stations, depending on a show’s popularity. It will pay more for lower-rated shows and less for shows with higher ratings, which stations are less likely to preempt.

Malara told a meeting of affiliates that CBS should not pay affiliates the same amount for “60 Minutes” or “Murphy Brown” that it does for programs that are not so highly rated.