Nexstar Being Sued by DirecTV
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It appears that Nexstar’s greed has ended up bringing a lawsuit against the company.
DirecTV, a leading pay TV platform, filed a lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group, Mission Broadcasting, and White Knight Broadcasting on Tuesday. The suit accuses the three broadcasters of colluding to manipulate the market for broadcast retransmission fees, which has resulted in the blackout of 25 Mission and White Knight stations in 23 markets on DirecTV since October.
The suit alleges that Nexstar, the largest broadcast station group in the US, engaged in "sidecar" arrangements with smaller broadcasters to bypass FCC station-ownership caps and other federal laws through collusive retransmission-consent negotiations. In all of the markets where Mission and White Knight have stations blacked out on DirecTV, Nexstar manages another major broadcast network affiliate.
According to DirecTV, Mission and White Knight have unlawfully coordinated with Nexstar to raise prices and extract supra-competitive retransmission consent fees from the company in markets where both Nexstar and either Mission or White Knight each own a Big Four station. To achieve this unlawful and anticompetitive aim, the two broadcasters have effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar, the suit claims.
Nexstar, on the other hand, denies the allegations and states that its shared-services agreements with White Knight and Mission Broadcasting comply with FCC rules. The company emphasizes that each station group independently negotiates its own retransmission consent agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco partners.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of disputes between pay TV platforms and broadcasters over retransmission fees. Broadcasters typically demand significant fees from pay TV platforms for the right to retransmit their signals. The two sides have clashed over how much these fees should be, with broadcasters often arguing that they are not being fairly compensated for their content while pay TV platforms claim that the fees are excessive.
This dispute has led to blackouts of TV stations on pay TV platforms, inconveniencing viewers who are unable to access their favorite shows. The FCC has attempted to mediate these disputes in the past, but it remains to be seen how the courts will handle this latest lawsuit.
In conclusion, the lawsuit filed by DirecTV against Nexstar, Mission Broadcasting, and White Knight Broadcasting underscores the ongoing battle between pay TV platforms and broadcasters over retransmission fees. While each side has its own interests to protect, ultimately it is the viewers who suffer the most from these disputes. Hopefully, the courts will be able to find a resolution that is fair to all parties involved.
