Just in time for the start of this week’s NHL Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals, 54 E.W. Scripps-owned stations have gone dark on DirecTV streaming, satellite and U-verse TV pay TV platforms.

The stations—17 of which are ABC affiliates airing the NHL and NBA finals games—went dark at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday (May 31) after Scripps and DirecTV failed to agree to a new retransmission consent agreement.

“Scripps is demanding the highest rates DirecTV has ever received from a station group, which would continue to dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses already struggling with affordability,“ the pay TV provider said in a statement. “After DirecTV declined those demands and sought a more reasonable agreement, Scripps chose to remove its stations from viewers in several major markets nationwide.”

In a statement to TV Tech, Scripps said it "has been engaging in good-faith negotiations with DirecTV to establish an equitable agreement that serves both companies and, most importantly, consumers.“

“Regrettably, DirecTV has elected to remove Scripps local stations from their lineup, employing the same heavy-handed tactics that have become synonymous with pay-TV operators who hurt their own subscribers by using them as bargaining chips in contractual disputes,“ the broadcaster said. “By contrast, Scripps stations have gone dark only twice since we began broadcasting in the 1940s."

Scripps also stressed that viewers can still watch their content using an antenna or on other pay TV services like YouTube TV and Fubo.

"Scripps remains committed to reaching a fair resolution that restores our local stations to DirecTV’s paying subscribers," the station group said. "At stake is our viewers’ fundamental access to trusted local journalism, critical weather alerts, emergency information and live sports programming that strengthens community bonds – all essential public interest content in which Scripps invests substantially every day."

DirecTV said that Scripps has suspended stations in cities including Baltimore, Boise, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Lexington, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Omaha, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and West Palm Beach, among others.

In response to the dispute, DirecTV also complained that “Scripps and its peers continue to remove content from American viewers in hopes of enriching their bottom lines. Scripps removed 40 of its stations from Comcast Xfinity customers in 19 of these same cities for more than a month, starting April 1.”

“We understand customers are frustrated by temporarily losing their usual access to Scripps stations and the local news, network programming, and live sports they provide,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV. “Unfortunately, Scripps is demanding the highest rates we have ever seen for programming that remains available for free over-the-air and through many station, network, and third-party streaming apps. We remain committed to protecting customers from indiscriminate and unnecessary cost increases for less popular programming while still working to restore the stations that many viewers rely on.”

WASHINGTON—The Motion Picture Association has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency not to change rules relating to how retransmission consent negotiations are conducted with services like YouTube TV, Hulu Live, and Fubo.

Currently those services (vMVPDs) are not classified as traditional pay TV operators (MVPDs) like Comcast even though they offer very similar packages of channels for a monthly subscription. That means that retransmission consent negotiations with these vMVPDs are conducted by broadcast networks and their parent companies rather than being negotiated by station groups who handle retrans deals with traditional MVPDs.

Broadcast station groups have long argued that they would be able to get higher retransmission fees if they handled the negotiations with vMVPDs.

In a filing made as part of the FCC’s ongoing investigation into the state of competition in the communications marketplace the MPA urged the “the FCC to refrain from intervening in the video marketplace in light of increasing innovation, intermodal competition, and viewer choice.”

The MPA is backed by the major studios as well as Amazon Studios and Netflix Studios that have major interests in the streaming industry,

More specifically, the MPA argued that the “FCC should intervene in the video marketplace only where it has clear legal authority and unequivocal record evidence of market failure. To do otherwise would hinder, rather than help innovation and viewer choice. Today, the marketplace shows abundance and intermodal competition, not clear signs of market failure. Indeed, online services are increasingly providing access to video programming that also remains available on other platforms, a proposition supported by the Public Notice launching this round of comments. From a competition standpoint, examining intermodal competition across broadcast, cable, satellite, telecommunications, and streaming services remains important.”

In addition, the MPA argued that “although streaming services compete with all the other video platforms, the FCC and Congress have both observed that the agency lacks authority to regulate online video services.”

The filing also cited a letter from the previous FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to Sen. Charles Grassley in March of 2023 stating that “online video programming distributors do not neatly fit in these [multichannel video programming distributor] statutory definitions because they lack a physical connection to subscribers and do not use any electromagnetic frequencies when delivering programming to their viewers” and that “the Commission lacks the power to change these unambiguous provisions.”

That letter cited in the MPA filing also noted “that even if the Commission were to proceed, it would require changes to underlying copyright policies” also outside the FCC’s jurisdiction.

“The filmed entertainment sector continues to deliver content that captivates and caters to the viewing preferences of a wide range of consumers,” the MPA concluded. “The sector is a significant driver of economic opportunities for communities across the nation and enables American consumers to exchange diverse information, ideas, achievements, and culture. But as MPA stated in its 2024 Comments, the video programming marketplace will only continue to thrive if the Commission facilitates a light-touch approach to regulating video services.”

The full filing is available here.

WASHINGTON—The American Television Alliance (ATVA) has submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (arguing that broadcasters are using loopholes to evade meaningful agency review of broadcast transactions.

ATVA is backed by pay TV providers and associations.

In the filing, ATVA said that under the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC is required to review transactions involving television stations to ensure they serve the public interest.

ATVA also noted that the commission must evaluate potential harms to consumers and local communities, including higher prices, reduced competition and diminished local news coverage when a broadcast station group owner tries to combine two or more major national broadcast network affiliations within a single market.

Increasingly, however, ATVA noted that broadcasters are exploiting loopholes to sidestep reviews.

ATVA’s filing contends, for example, that Sinclair is using “affiliation swaps” loopholes to avoid reviews.

Rather than directly acquiring a competing station with a major network affiliation, ATVA cited examples of where Sinclair first acquired that station’s network programming rights—such as ABC content—a transaction that does not trigger the review process.

It can then place that programming on a secondary digital “multicast” channel of a station it already owns, temporarily carrying, for example, both CBS and ABC programming under a single broadcast license.

Then, ATVA argued, Sinclair submitted an application to acquire the now stripped-down station itself. Because the second station no longer carries a “Big Four” network at the time of the sale, the resulting transaction appears less significant on paper and often receives only a cursory review. After the deal is approved, Sinclair can then shift the ABC programming back to the newly acquired station, the ATVA contended.

“Sinclair’s recently approved transactions demonstrate how broadcasters use affiliation swaps or changes to consolidate within local markets while avoiding Commission review or public comment,” the letter said. “The Commission should put an end to these practices. It should modify its rules in order to ensure proper oversight over such transactions, and to limit the increasingly widespread consolidation in the television marketplace.”

ATVA also stressed that Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley told Wall Street analysts during an April 30 first-quarter earnings call that duopolies, or “double-ups,” are core to Sinclair’s strategy due to their inherent operating efficiencies.

ATVA made the filing as part of the quadrennial regulatory review.

In the latest retransmission consent battle, 40 stations owned by E.W. Scripps were dropped from Comcast’s Xfinity pay TV service after the two sides were unable to reach a new retransmission consent agreement on March 31.

In a statement on its website, the pay TV operator said that “Comcast pays programmers to bring customers the entertainment, information, and sports they want. Comcast works to negotiate fair terms in order to ensure the greatest value for customers, given all the ways content can be accessed today. A number of reasonable offers have been made that E. W. Scripps hasn’t accepted. Comcast continues to work towards making this programming available again with fair pricing and terms for our customers.”

Comcast said that E. W. Scripps owns and operates 40 broadcast stations nationwide in the Comcast footprint, including, 19 Big Four stations (e.g., ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC), and 21 non-Big Four stations (e.g., Independent).

In a statement, Scripps said that “"Scripps has been negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects this value and is fair for both parties and viewers. We hope Comcast recognizes the critical value we play for our communities and restores our stations' signals so we can continue to serve their customers. Until then, Xfinity customers can still find our local news and sports programming for free over-the-air, on our station websites, streaming apps and on other locally available cable and satellite providers."

WASHINGTON—In another sign that broadcasters are using the Federal Communication Commission's recently launched inquiry into sports rights and distribution to advance longstanding regulatory concerns, Gray Media used a recent meeting with the agency’s staff to highlight the importance of digital rights management (DRM) being part of NextGen TV deployments and to argue that the agency needs to change rules on how broadcasters negotiate retransmission agreements with vMVPDs like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.

The National Association of Broadcasters has taken a similar response to the FCC’s request for public comments on sports broadcasting practices and market place developments by urging regulators and Congress to abolish ownership caps on station groups.

A letter summarizing a March 5, 2026, meeting between FCC staff and Gray representatives explained that “Gray shares the Commission’s concerns about how difficult it has become for consumers to find their favorite sporting event now that so much is moving to streaming and behind paywalls. During the discussion with Commission staff, Gray described the complex sports rights ecosystem. Gray highlighted the following difficulties: (a) professional sports leagues demand those carrying their games to include digital rights management (`DRM’) into the transmission signal to the extent technically feasible, which is why it is critical that the Commission continue to permit the use of DRM in ATSC 3.0 signals, and (b) network affiliates’ inability to negotiate for carriage of local television signals with virtual multichannel video programming distributors, which significantly handicaps local affiliates' ability to competitively bid for local sports rights because affiliates do not control and cannot appropriately monetize the relationship with a significant distributor of their local signals. Shutting out local affiliates from negotiations for sports rights and distribution not only disenfranchises local affiliates, but it also threatens the revenues used to produce local news, weather, and sports programming that is core to Gray’s mission.”

Station groups have long contended that the current practices of letting the media companies like Disney that own broadcast networks like ABC handle retransmission consent deals with vMVPDs harms them financially by reducing the amount of money that they could get in retrans fees, an argument that the broadcast networks reject.

Including DRM in the NextGen TV standard has been opposed by some consumers while broadcasters have long argued that it puts them at a competitive disadvantage to streaming platforms, who use DRM to encrypt streams, in sports rights negotiations because DRM is not part of the existing ATSC 1.0 standard.

The March 5 meeting at the FCC was attended by Robert Folliard, III, Senior Vice President – Government Relations and Distribution for Gray Media, and I met with Ms. Erin Boone, Chief of the Media Bureau; Evan Morris, Deputy Bureau Chief; and Chad Guo, Attorney Advisor.

The full letter is available here.

WASHINGTON—Cincinnati Bell has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to review its decision to deny a petition by the telco, which does business under the brand altafiber, that claimed Nexstar violated “good faith” negotiating rules during a retransmission consent dispute involving Nexstar’s WDTN Dayton, Ohio station.

"Grounds for Commission review exist because the Bureau made determinations in conflict with existing Commission precedent, made erroneous findings with respect to material facts and created a material new policy that had not previously been resolved by the Commission,” the application said.

The original complaint referred to a 2025 retransmission consent and carriage dispute between Nexstar and altafiber that led the telco to drop both WDTN and Nexstar’s cable news channel NewsNation.

In an application that laid out a number of arguments supporting the complaint, the telco argued that the FCC’s decision to reject the complaint because it involved a “commonplace” dispute over rates was wrong. It also contended that Nexstar’s demands were “sufficiently outrageous,” for the agency to rule against Nexstar.

“As set forth in the record, Nexstar’s demand was anything but `commonplace,’ unless the Bureau considers imposing an incremental cost of more than $50 per Dayton subscriber `commonplace,’” the telco argued. “That cost is in addition to any retransmission consent fee and arises from delivery of Nexstar’s unpopular news channel, NewsNation, to subscribers outside the Dayton DMA. The cost is so high because 99% of altafiber’s subscribers are in the Cincinnati DMA where Nexstar owns no broadcast stations. Evaluating whether the demands of broadcasters are consistent with competitive marketplace considerations must necessarily be made in the market for which retransmission consent is being negotiated. Thus, these costs must be measured relative to the 1% of altafiber’s subscribers who would be able to receive the Dayton station. The Bureau had a duty to consider altafiber’s rebuttal evidence.”

“The Bureau also created a new policy, declaring that a broadcaster’s economic self-interest may take precedent over its duty to serve the public interest,” the application stated. “Even more significantly, it declared that the Commission lacked authority to enforce the public interest obligation in the context of retransmission consent negotiations, instead effectively delegating to altafiber the obligation to enforce Nexstar’s public interest obligations through the negotiating process.”

“The Bureau’s decision creates a dangerous and clear precedent that all broadcaster demands are presumptively consistent with competitive marketplace considerations, therefore no limits apply to the scale and scope of those demands,” the telco concluded. “Even if the demands violate the broadcaster’s public interest obligations, in light of the Bureau’s policy declaration, the Commission is now powerless to enforce those obligations. The Bureau’s decision permits broadcasters to withhold their signals until their demands are met without fear of any enforcement action. Whether the signal remains blacked out or the MVPD capitulates and access becomes unaffordable, foreclosed access harms many consumers who rely on MVPDs to receive local broadcast television.”

The application asked that the FCC “Remand Count I of the Complaint to the Bureau with instructions that: (i) Nexstar’s demand for carriage of an affiliated cable programming service outside of the DMA for which fully retransmission consent is sought is not presumptively consistent with competitive marketplace considerations; and (ii) Nexstar had the burden to establish that its demands were consistent with competitive marketplace considerations.”

It also asked the Commission to “Review and rescind the Bureau’s policy determination that: (i) a broadcaster can subordinate its obligation to serve the public interest to pursuit of `advanc[ing] its own economic self-interest when negotiating retransmission consent' and if it does, the Commission lacks authority to enforce the public interest obligations.”

The full application can be found here.

USA Today in November tackled the Disney-YouTube TV standoff that at the time prevented subscribers from enjoying ESPN and other Disney-owned media, including ABC stations, via the subscription streaming service.

The opinion piece by Chris Bumbaca did a nice job of laying out the conflict between the corporate behemoths and its implications going forward.

“The bigger picture is that the blackout is a harbinger of the future of how we watch sports and the rivalries that define where we consume the content,“ he wrote. “Because caught in the middle of the boardroom back-and-forth are the fans.”

True, they will always be caught in the middle, but that doesn’t mean they are powerless. Fans can simply sidestep a lot of the pain by installing an antenna.

Granted, relying solely on antennas won’t give fans all of the sports they would have otherwise. But the simulcast of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” coverage is certainly available over the air on ABC O&Os and affiliates, as are many other games. Ditto the other broadcast networks and their affiliates with their sports coverage.

But who can blame Bumbaca for not mentioning TV antennas? Not only is he of a generation largely unaware that TV is the O.G. of wireless video delivery, but also the television industry has done a poor job of informing viewers about OTA transmission and reception.

Consider the NAB’s “Keep Football Free” ad. The 30-second spot takes direct aim at YouTube TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. “Cha-Ching! You might shell out 50 bucks a month and that’s just the beginning. Good thing we have local TV stations bringing us games for free,” the NAB spot says.

The ad concludes by urging viewers to text TV to 39197, saying “And let’s keep football free.” So far, so good. But when the public goes to the site, it’s asked to sign a letter that goes to Congress urging reform of existing broadcast ownership caps. There’s not a hint of antenna reception as it relates to keeping football free.

As this issue goes to press, NAB launched its new “Game On” website, complete with a holiday themed video. The website includes a link to the same letter to Congress. What is missing everywhere is the word “antenna.”

None of this is surprising. Years ago, I recall being at a conference jointly put on by Broadcast Engineering and B+C magazines. At the time, Sinclair’s Del Parks offered the broadcasters there a promo it had produced to tell the public that HDTV programming was available for free over the air.

But there were few, if any, takers. Why? There was little desire to rock the retrans-fee boat by being seen as aggressively competing with MVPD partners for viewers.

All true, but how are ownership rules and retrans fees linked? Look no further than the International Center of Law & Economics, which released a white paper in November.

It says in part: “The ideal deregulatory solution would eliminate outdated ownership restrictions and the retransmission-consent framework.” As the Federal Communications Commission continues reviewing broadcast ownership rules and is expected to move forward on that agenda, don’t be surprised to see the agency seek comments on the retrans issue and a host of commenters arguing to end the fees.

Regardless of how all this plays out, can’t an industry required to serve the public interest do a better job of informing viewers that they can receive television programming—including sports—over the air?

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has weighed in on the blackout of ABC, ESPN and other Disney programming on YouTube TV with a post on X says that said the two parties “need to get a deal done and end this blackout.”

“People should have the right to watch the programming they paid for — including football,” he added.

After failing to reach a deal on new retransmission consent payments for ABC and a carriage agreement for Disney’s ESPN and other cable channels, the Disney services were removed from the vMVPD at the end of October when the old agreement expired..

Since the dispute first went public in late October, both sides have traded barbs, blaming the other part for the blackout. YouTube TV has attacked Disney for insisting on terms that would push up prices for pay TV subscribers, while Disney complained that “with a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”

YouTube has offered subscribers a $20 credit and in a separate post on X said they were "working to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content and returns their programming to YouTube TV."

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES—Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Weather, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes, Big Ten Network, the Fox network and all Fox local stations.

On Monday, YouTube TV told subscribers that it might have to remove Fox media channels from its lineup by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday if the two didn't reach a carriage agreement. Wednesday night, the two parties said they had reached a “short-term” agreement to keep Fox stations on the streaming service.

Separately, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr had urged the two parties to resolve their differences before the weekend's big game between Texas and Ohio State. “Get the deal done, Google!” he posted on X.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Fox to keep their content on YouTube TV, preserve the value of our service for our subscribers and offer more flexibility in the future,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “This means that Fox channels, including the Fox Broadcast Network, Fox News, and Fox Sports, remain available for our subscribers along with 100-plus channels and football fans will not miss any of the action this weekend.”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —SlingTV has announced that it has been working with Vizio to integrate free, live local over-the-air (OTA) channels directly into the Sling TV guide, making it easier for Vizio TV users to watch local programming.

The new OTA tuner feature is available on select Vizio TV models, allowing users to seamlessly access their local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and other local broadcasters within the Sling TV app when connected to an OTA antenna without the need to switch inputs or applications.

“At Sling TV, we’re always looking for ways to simplify the viewing experience while delivering the best value in television," said Seth Van Sickel, senior vice president, product and operations, EchoStar video services. “This integration with Vizio allows our customers to effortlessly access their favorite local programming right alongside their Sling content, reinforcing our commitment to affordability, flexibility and ease of use.”

In announcing the integration, the two companies explained that Vizio TV owners can quickly activate the OTA integration by connecting an OTA antenna directly to their TV’s coax input and scanning for channels. To do so, users can follow these simple steps:

1. Open the SlingTV App
2. Navigate to Settings > Local Channels > Configure Locals
3. Select Scan for Channels

Once the scan is complete, available local channels will be displayed within the Sling TV guide. Viewers can easily access their free local programming by selecting the local filter on the left side of the guide.

While broadcasters heavily promote the advantages of OTA feeds, the integration would allow Sling TV's streaming subscribers to access local broadcast TV without changing the input or paying a streaming provider like YouTube TV extra for a package that offers the local channels. It does, however reduce retransmission consent revenues that broadcasters might get from a pay TV provider or a streaming service.

For more information about Sling TV, visit Sling.com.

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters has filed a wide-ranging rebuttal to proposals by the pay TV industry that the Federal Communications Commission delete and/or significantly change rules governing retransmission consent and carriage agreements with broadcasters.

The NAB also filed detailed comments on many of the tech and regulatory proposals it made in an early filing listing the regulations it would like to see eliminated or reduced.

The FCC’s deregulatory push and the creation of a docket for public comments called “In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete,” had made the agency's Docket 25-133 one of the most popular items on the agency’s website, with over 1,125 filings as of the morning of May 1. Those comments include lengthy filings and letters from the National Association of Broadcasters, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, state broadcasting associations, America’s Public Television Stations, PBS, Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray Media, Mission Broadcasting and many individual TV stations.

In response to the Delete, Delete, Delete effort, the NCTA, pay TV operators like EchoStar and other telecom groups have also filed proposals to reduce blackouts of stations during contentious negotiations for new retransmission consent or carriage agreements.

In an April 29 filing, the NAB again stressed that broadcasters are already excessively regulated and pushed for the elimination of all ownership caps.

“Part 73 of the CFR [Code of Federal Regulations] alone spans a whopping 423 pages – more than any other regulated service, and more than double the number in Part 76 covering multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs),” the NAB said. “The record in this proceeding is clear: The rules governing broadcasting are not only excessive, but they are also obsolete and counterproductive. They discourage investment, hinder innovation, and place broadcasters at a structural disadvantage … It is time to delete, delete, delete down to the core regulatory framework that supports innovation, investment, and choice for broadcasters and, most importantly, the audiences they serve.”

As part of that, the NAB would like the FCC to eliminate ownership caps, reduce rules that impede the transition to NextGen TV, to sunset ATSC 1.0 broadcasts, update EAS rules and reduce paperwork and rules relating to children’s programming, equal employment opportunity (EEO) rules and other areas.

However, the NAB blasted attempts by pay TV providers to change certain rules relating to retransmission and carriage negotiations.

“There are certain parties who support self-serving and anticompetitive proposals designed to keep broadcasters mired in the morass of existing regulations or even add to them to maintain their comparative advantage over TV and radio stations,” the NAB said. “In particular, NAB opposes the pay TV industry’s proposals concerning retransmission consent and other carriage issues that are unlawful, harmful to consumers, seek to increase regulation in contravention of the goals of this proceeding, or brazenly ask the commission to eliminate rules required by statute.”

More specifically, the NAB said pay TV “proposals for certain retransmission consent and other carriage-related ‘reforms’ are unlawful, contrary to the purpose of this proceeding or both.”

The NAB added: “A few pay TV commenters [have] … attempted to recast their past proposals for additional rules as proposals to delete rules … Virtually all these proposals have been advanced previously as part of pay TV providers’ longstanding strategy of seeking to artificially depress the fees they pay broadcasters for repackaging and reselling broadcast content. Because their proposals would advance pay TV providers’ efforts to stifle competition from television stations, harm consumers, and contravene both the Communications Act of 1934 (Act) and the goals of this proceeding, the Commission should decline to adopt them.”

In the filing, the NAB rebutted a large number of specific proposals by NCTA: The Television & Internet Association and other pay TV-backed groups. It also argued that EchoStar’s proposal that the FCC should allow satellite operator to import signals from other stations was “unlawful.” The EchoStar proposal would significantly strengthen pay TV operators' negotiating position in retransmission disputes.

“While NAB agrees that some of the rules should be eliminated to provide broadcasters with greater flexibility, others remain essential to ensuring quality service to the public and should be retained,” it concluded.

The filing also addressed a number of technical issues, including:

• Certain proposals by low-power FM radio (LPFM) advocates that could change the local nature of the service and increase the risk of interference to FM services;
• Significant concerns regarding proposed rule changes that would allow FM radio stations to operate from distributed transmitters instead of a single main transmitter.
• NAB said it supports allowing greater power and flexibility to ultra wideband (UWB) systems.
• It argued that Very Low Power (VLP) operations cannot avoid the requirement to include antennas in 6 GHz VLP Devices.
• NAB supported proposals concerning interference protection of TV channels 10 and 13 by PTC operations.
• It argued that FM allocation requirements should not be eliminated.
• Rules concerning FM6 LPTV stations should be retained, the NAB said.
• Special Temporary Authority (STA) filing requirements in the Licensing and Management System (LMS) should be eliminated for situations that have little potential for increasing interferenc, the NAB argued.
• The NAB said that the agency should reject requests to eliminate protections for TV channel 6, which "the commission has repeatedly determined to retain."
• Finally, the FCC should eliminate its White Space Devices rules, as this is a failed service that does not warrant continued inclusion, the filing said.

The full filing is available here.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission's request for comments on "outdated" rules that should be deleted has prompted Echostar, the owner of Dish, to file comments urging the agency to eliminate rules that prevent satellite carriers from importing distant signals to replace the network programming lost during blackouts resulting from retransmission consent disputes.

The idea will certainly be opposed by broadcasters as it would significantly reduce their leverage during retransmission consent negotiations.

The FCC recently opened a docket called “Delete, Delete, Delete,” asking for comments on rules that should be deleted. That docket has become the second most active on the agency's website, with 559 filings in the last 30 days.

EchoStar’s proposal woud reduce station groups’ leverage with pay TV providers during retrans disputes by allowing cable or satellite operators from another network affiliate during high-profile sporting events other highly desirable programming.

“Permitting the importation of a distant signal during blackouts is a simple way to protect consumers and restore balance to negotiations,” EchoStar argued in the April 10 filing. “To help delete the current prohibition, the Commission does not need to enact a new rule: broadcasters have the power to waive the distant signal restriction. The Commission can accomplish this significant pro-consumer outcome by reminding broadcasters of the totality of the circumstances standard (47 C.F.R. § 76.65(b)) applicable to the good faith requirement and explaining that a refusal to grant a waiver in such circumstances can be relevant under the standard.”

In the filing, EcoStar also urged the FCC to:

• Abolish the syndicated exclusivity and network nonduplication rules;
• Abolish the political file rules applicable to DBS providers;
• Decline to issue further market modifications;
• Effectively delete the prohibition on Importing distant network signals during a blackout;
• Abolish the “HD carry-one, carry-all” rule;
• Clarify the “Nn alteration/deletion” rule.

The complete filing can be accessed here. TV Tech’s full FCC coverage is available here.

NEW YORK—A New York State court has issued a judgement ordering Nexstar Media Group to pay $26.6 million to DirecTV. The judgement came in a case where DirecTV successfully argued that Nexstar had fraudulently collected retransmission fees for a Maryland station owned by Nexstar.

In the suit, DirecTV said that it had been paying retransmission feeds for WHAG in Hagerstown Maryland based on WHAG’s NBC affiliation. In July 2024 a New York State Court ruled in DirecTV's favor, finding that Nexstar fraudulently collected $10.5 million in retransmission fees from DirecTV.

Nexstar appealed that ruling. In August, 2024, the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division in the First Judicial Department ruled against Nexstar's appeal .

In an order, the appeals court noted that "WHAG lost its NBC affiliation on July 1, 2016, approximately one year into the agreement’s three-year term, and defendant later changed WHAG’s call sign and rebranded the station. However, defendant did not inform plaintiff that WHAG had lost its affiliation and continued to collect more than $10.5 million in Unlaunched Station Fees pertaining to WHAG for the remainder of the agreement’s term. When plaintiff discovered that WHAG had become an independent station, it informed defendant that it would no longer pay the Unlaunched Station Fee and asked defendant to return the Unlaunched Station Fees that it had paid following the loss of WHAG’s NBC affiliation. Defendant refused, and plaintiff stopped paying the Unlaunched Station Fees.”

The Feb. 19 2025 judgment awarded $26.6 million to DirecTV. The award consists of amounts DirecTV overpaid Nexstar for retransmission consent for WHAG between the time DirecTV the then-affiliate in the Washington, D.C., market, in 2015 and Nexstar’s losing that NBC affiliation in February 2016 (plus interest). (NBC is the longtime owner of its Washington affiliate, WRC.)

In the case, DirecTV said Nexstar knew of the pending loss of its NBC affiliation during retransmission consent negotiations but failed to disclose it.

The judgment issued by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, which is a lower court in the state’s court system, said that the parties had agreed on the amount of $26.6 million as covering all damages and costs in the action.

The judgment also noted that Nexstar has the right to appeal.

After being asked to comment on the case, Nexstar told TV Tech it would be further appealing the judgment.

The National Association of Broadcasters has reiterated its opposition to an FCC proposal to require pay TV providers to notify the regulator when TV stations are blacked out for 24 hours or longer due to retransmission-consent disputes.

In recent meetings with staff for a pair of FCC members—Anna Gomez, a Democrat, and Nathan Simington, a Republican—NAB senior vice president and deputy general counsel legal and regulatory affairs Erin Dozier “reiterated NAB’s opposition to the proposal to require multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to notify the Commission when a broadcast signal is unavailable via an MVPD service for 24 hours or more due to a breakdown in retransmission consent negotiations.”

Dozier made the comments in a letter to the FCC describing an Oct. 9 meeting with Deena Shetler, a staffer for Gomez, and an Oct. 11 meeting with Adam Cassady, a staff member in Simington’s office.

Faced with mounting consumer complaints about the impact of blackouts during retransmission consent negotiations, the FCC has said it needs more information about the problem. To address that, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking last December (MB Docket No. 23-427, FCC 23-115) requiring MVPDs to report blackouts.

In a Oct. 11 letter describing the meetings, Dozier said she argued “the proposal would exceed the Commission’s very limited statutory authority relating to retransmission consent, would fail to provide meaningful information to consumers, and would likely result in additional disruptions in service.”

“The Commission’s role with respect to retransmission consent is extremely limited, because Congress intended that arms-length negotiations between broadcasters and MVPDs would dictate the prices, terms and conditions of retransmission consent, subject only to a requirement to negotiate in good faith,” Dozier noted. “Given the Commission’s very limited role and its inability to use information on negotiating impasses to require parties to take any additional steps, it is not clear what lawful purpose this information gathering effort can serve, from the Commission’s standpoint.

“From a consumer perspective, the proposed database would be irrelevant, incomplete or both,” she added. “It is highly unlikely that consumers would consult the FCC’s website for information on signal carriage disruptions affecting their MVPD service, because most consumers learn of these disruptions directly from their MVPDs and/or local stations. Consumers engaged in comparison shopping for MVPD service also are unlikely to use an FCC database as a research tool.”

Dozier also complained that the “database also focuses exclusively on disruptions in service, which provides an incomplete picture given that the overwhelming majority of retransmission consent negotiations are concluded without event. NAB noted that the database could be improved by requiring MVPDs to report not only service disruptions, but also successful agreements.”

“At both meetings, we stated that NAB’s primary concern is that the database will result in more frequent disruptions in service,” Dozier wrote. “As NAB explained in our filings in this and other proceedings, MVPDs have long opposed retransmission consent” and “they would use the reporting requirements to seek changes in the way retransmission fees are negotiated. “

"The database will serve as an ‘attractive nuisance’ that MVPDs cannot resist, triggering increased disruptions and harming consumers,” she concluded.

The full letter can be found here.

NEW YORK—Altice USA’s Optimum pay TV operations and Gray Media have agreed to a multi-year extension of their retransmission consent agreement. 

The renewal enables Optimum TV customers to continue to enjoy programming on Gray’s broadcast television stations. 

Optimum TV markets with Gray stations include Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia, California, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, and Ohio. 

The extension also enables Optimum TV customers to continue to enjoy Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury games on Gray stations in their respective markets.

As usual in retrans deals, financial terms were not disclosed. 

In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a response arguing that the FCC’s Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture  (NAL) “is unlawful and the proposed forfeiture, divestiture obligations, and other requirements must be canceled and the NAL vacated in its entirety.”

The filing came in response to a March 21 ruling by the FCC that imposed heavy fines on Nexstar and Mission Broadcasting for ownership violations. The FCC imposed fines on Nexstar of $1,224,790 and Mission $612,395 for the violations. It is also sought to remedy the ownership issues by having Mission either sell WPIX in New York to an independent third party that has no relationship to Nexstar or to have Nexstar buy WPIX and divest other stations so it is under the ownership cap.

The controversy dates back to the acquisition of the Tribune TV stations by Nexstar in 2018 and Nexstar's subsequent decision to sell WPIX to Mission Broadcasting to reduce its station ownership footprint to comply with FCC rules. The FCC approved ownership transfer and a local market agreement that allowed Nexstar to operate the station but in the March 21, 2024 NAL cited features of the Nexstar/WPIX relationship that indicated Nexstar is exercising too much control over WPIX during retransmission consent negotiations.

In response, Nexstar argued that the FCC would “deem unlawful and destroy commercial agreements between Nexstar and  Mission Broadcasting, Inc. that were expressly approved by the FCC under the prior  administration, and…force station divestitures by Nexstar and/or Mission in contravention of  existing law and precedent. The NAL’s analysis and penalties contradict existing FCC rules and authority,  contravene the Communications Act and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and violate  Nexstar’s constitutional rights in multiple respects.”

“Through the NAL, the Commission seeks to wield its enforcement authority in a myriad  of improper ways,” Nexstar’s lawyers contended in the filing. “It argues that Nexstar violated the Communications Act by performing the  express terms of agreements that the FCC previously reviewed and approved. It seeks to rewrite  FCC rules without a notice-and-comment rulemaking proceeding. It adopts new interpretations of FCC rules that are unsupported or even contradicted by precedent without prior notice or  reasoned explanation. It creates entirely new regulatory requirements without prior notice or due  process. It applies standards that are vague and unsupportable. To the extent that the  Commission now quarrels with the FCC rules on the books or the decisions of the past, it should  pursue those policy objectives through notice-and-comment rulemaking proceedings that will allow all affected parties to be heard and ensure even-handed treatment across the industry. It  should not pursue those objectives through an inequitable enforcement proceeding that penalizes  Nexstar for relying on FCC approvals and following existing regulations and applicable law.” 

“At its core, the NAL seeks to undo FCC-approved agreements pursuant to which Nexstar,  Mission, and WPIX have been operating since 2020,” the filing stressed. “These agreements, which include a Local  Programming and Marketing Agreement (LPMA) and an agreement that provides Nexstar  with the option to acquire WPIX from Mission (Nexstar-Mission Option) (together, the  `WPIX Arrangement'), were reviewed and approved by the FCC in late 2020 as a part of  Mission’s acquisition of WPIX. Nonetheless, the NAL now finds that the very same LPMA  confers de facto control of WPIX to Nexstar.”

“Because the NAL is based on unlawful interpretations of Commission rules and  precedent, violates Nexstar’s constitutional rights, and otherwise runs afoul of the Administrative  Procedure Act and the Communications Act, it must be canceled and vacated in its entirety,” the filing concludes. 

DirecTV Stream has added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. Those customers can now stream the CW affiliate in their city.

The newly added stations, which went live on April 18, are: 

Boston, Mass: WLVI (Owned by WHDH-TV)

Charlotte, N.C.: WCCB (Bahakel Communications)

Cincinnati, Ohio: WKRC-D2 (Sinclair) 

Cleveland, Ohio: WUAB (Gray)

Hartford-New Haven, Conn.: WCCT (Tegna)

Phoenix, Ariz.: KAZT (Nexstar)

San Diego, Calif: KFMB-D2 (Tegna)

Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.: KUNS (Sinclair)  

NEW YORK—A federal court has dismissed a DirecTV lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group Inc., Mission  Broadcasting, Inc., and White Knight Broadcasting, Inc. alleging antitrust violations as part of retransmission consent negotiations. 

The lawsuit in Federal Court for the Southern District of New York stems from a long-running retransmission dispute involving Mission and White Knight that blacked out their stations on DirecTV beginning in October of 2022. Nexstar is named as a defendant because Mission and White Knight have a management agreement with Nexstar for Nexstar to handle sales, news and certain other functions at the stations. 

“Mission and White Knight are now unlawfully coordinating with Nexstar to raise prices and extract supracompetitive retransmission consent fees from DirecTV in ‘overlap’ DMAs—those markets where both Nexstar and either Mission or White Knight each own a Big-4 station,” DirecTV claimed in the suit filed on March 15, 2023. “To accomplish this unlawful and anticompetitive aim, Mission and White Knight have entered into an agreement in which they have effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar.”

Nexstar disputed the claims in court and Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed the suit in a March 20, 2024 ruling. The order found that DirecTV made some credible arguments but found that the pay TV operator lacked standing under antitrust laws. 

“The Court concludes that the Complaint adequately alleges DirecTV’s Article III standing but does not plausibly allege standing under the antitrust  laws,” judge P. Kevin Castel wrote in an order dismissing the antitrust suit. “Specifically, DirecTV did not enter into an RCA [retransmission consent agreement] with Mission or White Knight which would have required it to pay what it alleges to be `supracompetitive’ fees. Because the RCAs were not renewed, DirecTV customers experienced `blackouts' that caused  them to cancel or not renew their services causing DirecTV to suffer a profit loss. DirecTV cannot allege that the injury is of the type the antitrust laws were intended to prevent and that it flows from the anticompetitive nature of Defendants’ conduct. Also, on the facts alleged, the Court concludes that DirecTV lacks antitrust standing because it would not be an efficient enforcer of  the antitrust laws. The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s  remaining state law claims and dismisses them without prejudice.”

In response to those arguments, a DirecTV spokesperson said, “This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that a victim of price-fixing needs to pay the inflated price before it can make a claim in court.”

WASHINGTON D.C.—In response to an FCC ruling that Nexstar violated requirements to negotiate a retransmission consent deal with Hawaiian Telecom in good faith, Nexstar is disputing the proposed $720,000 FCC fine saying “the forfeiture should  be cancelled or, at a minimum, substantially reduced.”

The March 8 filing by Nexstar with the FCC argued that first, “the Bureau erred in finding a violation of the good faith  retransmission consent negotiation requirement, and (2) the proposed forfeiture of $720,000 exceeds the Bureau’s delegated authority and is both irrational and punitive.”

The fines stem from a complaint filed by Hawaiian Telcom on July 5, 2023 against Nexstar alleging good faith violations during 2023 negotiations to renew a 2020 retransmission consent agreement with six Nexstar stations in Hawaii. The stations were removed from the telco at the end of June 2023 after being unable to negotiate a new deal. The parties eventually executed a renewal agreement on July 20, 2023. 

In February of 2024, the FCC ruled that Nexstar had violated good faith negotiating requirements and levied a proposed forfeiture of $720,000, giving Nexstar 30 days to oppose the ruling.   

“While the Bureau purports to find Nexstar culpable for a good faith negotiation violation  `based on the totality of the circumstances in this case,’ its cursory two-paragraph analysis does  not even begin to satisfy that standard,” Nexstar argued. 

In that analysis the FCC argued that Nexstar’s attempt to include language preventing Hawaiian Telecom from filing a complaint with the FCC regarding violations of rules governing retransmission consent negotiations.  

“This type of circular reasoning effectively writes the word `presumptively’ out of the  Good Faith Order’s statement,” Nexstar’s lawyers noted later in the filing. “The Bureau determines that because Nexstar’s release proposal would have foreclosed the filing of FCC complaints to some degree, it is `presumptively’  inconsistent with good faith negotiation, while making no effort to explain why the mutual and limited nature of the settlement term would not militate in favor of rebutting the `presumption.’ Essentially, the NAL [Notice of Apparent Liability] rules that any proposed provision restricting to any degree the filing of future FCC complaints is a per se violation of the good faith negotiation requirement, regardless of the  term’s scope or any other context or circumstances surrounding the proposal. This is tantamount to a modification of the good faith negotiation rules. The Bureau lacks authority to do this, and  it may not lawfully deprive parties of due process by imposing liability without fair notice.”

The filing also argues that “even had the Bureau correctly found that Nexstar’s proposed mutual release constituted negotiation in bad faith (which, as discussed above, it did not), the forfeiture the NAL announces  is riddled with flaws. The first and most obvious of these is that the $720,000 forfeiture amount  exceeds the Bureau’s authority. Section 0.283(c) of the FCC’s rules unambiguously provides that  `[t]he imposition, reduction or cancellation of forfeitures pursuant to section 503(b) of the  Communications Act of 1934, as amended, in amounts of more than $20,000” “shall be referred  to the Commission en banc for disposition.’ Yet, the NAL orders that Nexstar “SHALL PAY”  a $720,000 forfeiture—exceeding by a whopping seven hundred thousand dollars the amount that the Bureau may impose on its own. This blatant `failure to follow [the FCC’s] own regulations  and procedures’ by itself warrants the NAL’s rescission,” the filing stated. 

Documents relating to the case are available here.  

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Association of Broadcasters has filed comments with the FCC opposing the FCC’s proposed new rules that would require MVPDs to report blackouts of services during retransmission consent disputes to the agency. 

The cable industry-backed NCTA has come out generally in favor of the proposals with some revisions. "We also do not object to the Commission’s proposal to place the reporting responsibility on MVPDs so long as such obligation in no way implies that the cable operator is at fault for the station no longer being carried on its system," the NCTA argued in a filing. 

The rural telecom association NTCA worried that the proposal would impose additional regulatory requirements on small operators. It also argued that if the FCC imposed the blackout reporting requirements, they needed to dig into the issue of retransmission consent and require information on pricing and other issues relating to the disputes.  

In a Feb. 27 filing with the FCC, the NAB argued that “the Commission should not adopt its proposal. First, the proposal exceeds the FCC’s very limited authority relating to retransmission consent under the Communications Act of 1934 (Act). The proposed requirements also do not fit within the FCC’s authority to regulate the customer service or public interest obligations of certain MVPDs. Moreover, because the proposed requirements do not appear to serve any discernible purpose, they would violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Finally, given that much of the pay TV industry’s advocacy before Congress and the Commission is entirely dependent upon highlighting (i.e., generating) disputes with broadcasters, NAB anticipates that the creation of this database will, if anything, incentivize more retransmission consent impasses, rather than reducing them. Accordingly, we urge the Commission not to adopt the proposed reporting requirement or host the related database.”

In arguing that the proposed rules might actually increase retransmission consent disputes, the NAB cited the pay TV’s long standing opposition to pay retrans fees.

“Given the pay TV industry’s ongoing strategy of seeking to make the system of retransmission consent appear “broken,” a Commission-hosted database with data on signal carriage disruptions due to retransmission consent disputes would be akin to failing to fence one’s backyard pool on a scorching summer day in a neighborhood full of children,” the NAB argued. “The Commission may find that it merely has created an “attractive nuisance” that incentivizes more disruptions. To avoid increasing consumer harms, NAB urges the Commission to decline to create any additional disincentives for MVPDs to reach timely, successful retransmission consent agreements.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new national poll from Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition finds that viewers strongly prefer streaming platforms to access video programming over traditional video services and that a majority of consumers are opposed to the idea of regulating vMVPDs like YouTube TV or FuboTV by the same rules governing traditional cable and satellite TV providers. 

The Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition is a strong opponent of proposals from broadcast station groups and the NAB to get the FCC regulate vMVPDs like traditional pay TV operators. The Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition is backed by ABC, CBS, FOX, Fubo, NBC, Roku, Telemundo, Univision, and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

This poll, conducted in partnership with Change Research, considers American viewers' preferences for watching video content, how and where they watch, the availability of local news on streaming and whether they support imposing new regulations on streaming platforms.

"The data shows that streaming services are the preferred viewing method for many Americans," says Bryce Harlow, Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition spokesperson. "Viewers want the ability to choose their content and control costs and oppose proposals for the FCC to regulate streaming like cable, which jeopardizes those priorities."

Findings from the poll include:

• Viewers strongly prefer streaming video (64%) to watching it via cable or satellite (23%).
• Fewer than 1 in 5 find it difficult to stream local news, and far more watch local news on phones, laptops and tablets than watch on televisions.
• More Americans oppose regulating streaming like cable; of the 57% who oppose these proposed regulations, 42% strongly oppose them.
• Viewers are more concerned with cost and convenience than the ability to watch live content on a television.
• Americans today watch video online, more often than via cable. Respondents say they watch video online at least a few hours per week, either through clips on social media (66%) or via subscription on-demand services, such as Disney+ or Hulu (60%).
• Live streaming services, including YouTube TV and Fubo are also popular, with 45% of Americans saying they view video content on those platforms weekly.
• Almost half of Americans (48%) indicate they never watch cable or satellite TV and 3 in 4 say they never watch antenna TV.
• Local news is widely available and easy to access for Americans of all ages. 84% of respondents said they often or sometimes view local news on a smartphone, computer or tablet versus only 48% who said they often or sometimes view on their television via cable or satellite. A majority of respondents across all age groups found it easy to access local news broadcasts on streaming platforms, while fewer than 1 in 5 found it difficult. 
• Respondents were almost evenly split between cable/satellite and streaming viewership for local news – 40% and 37% respectively.
• Streaming service perks like content and convenience are attractive to consumers, with the majority of viewers indicating they are content with the current streaming model. Viewers generally express satisfaction with streaming, with most American adults (57%) opposing regulating streaming like cable.
• Most viewers (66%) believe that streaming services give them more access to content than cable or satellite.
• Most surveyed (62%) believe that it is easier to switch streaming services than to switch cable providers, speaking to the ease of opting in and out of streaming platforms.
• Just as many respondents 65 and older feel the same about cable/satellite as they do streaming, younger people are far more likely to feel more positive about streaming.
• Respondents overwhelmingly ranked hidden fees (92%) and price (80%) as their top concerns when watching video content.

The poll was designed and conducted by Change Research in partnership with the Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition. The poll included a representative sample of 1,573 registered voters nationwide surveyed between January 10 - 15, 2024 and was conducted online in English. The modeled margin of error is +/-2.6%. 

More information is available at https://www.preserveviewerchoice.org/#/. 

In the longstanding dispute over retransmission consent negotiations between Comcast and Mission Broadcasting’s WPIX, Mission Broadcasting and Nexstar have filed separate briefs contesting the FCC ruling that Mission should pay a $150,000 fine for violating requirements to negotiate in good faith. 

In its filing, Nexstar said the FCC ruling was “procedurally improper, prejudicial, and unsupported by the facts or the law.” 

Comcast filed an informal complaint in December 2022 against Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Mission Broadcasting, Inc. for "Failure to Negotiate Retransmission Consent in Good Faith."

In a Jan. 16 2024 order the FCC ruled that “Comcast has satisfied its burden of proof with respect to Mission’s failure to negotiate in good faith. We, therefore, grant the Complaint, in part, and propose a forfeiture of $150,000 against Mission, licensee of WPIX.”

WPIX is owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated by Nexstar under shared services agreements. Comcast named both Nexstar and Mission in its complaint. 

In the January order, the FCC did not rule on the allegations against Nexstar, which the agency said it was considering separately. But it found that "Nexstar does not dispute that it made the proposals identified by Comcast when negotiating as the representative of WPIX, or that those proposals would have foreclosed the filing of certain complaints with the Commission," which the FCC said is inconsistent with the requirement to negotiate in good faith. The FCC also rejected Nexstar's argument that it did not violate the Good Faith provisions.

In its filing with the FCC, Mission said “the Bureau erred in finding a violation of the good faith retransmission consent negotiation requirement, and (2) the proposed forfeiture of $150,000 exceeds the Bureau's delegated authority, was calculated irrationally, and was adjusted upward unreasonably. As a result, the forfeiture should be canceled or, at a minimum, reduced to $7,500.”

Mission also concluded that “a consideration of all the facts involved in the retransmission consent negotiations concerning WPIX cannot plausibly justify a determination that the Proposal constituted bad faith, putting aside that the Bureau's authority does not even reach litigation settlement discussions. The NAL [Notice of Apparent Liability] should thus be rescinded.”

In its filing with the FCC Nexstar also disputed the idea it violated the good faith retransmission consent negotiations requirements and complained that the FCC had improperly judged Nexstar’s actions in its ruling against Mission. 

“Although issued to and directed towards Mission, the NAL’s finding of apparent liability rests entirely on the conclusion that Nexstar’s conduct – specifically, the communication of a confidential litigation settlement proposal to Comcast Cable Communications, LLC...to resolve a breach of contract lawsuit initiated by Nexstar—violated the FCC’s good faith negotiation rules,” Nexstar complained.  

“The Bureau’s statement that the NAL `[does] not address any of the allegations against Nexstar’ is plainly untrue,” Nexstar said. “Comcast’s allegations with respect to the specific conduct at issue in the NAL...were made against both Nexstar and Mission and relate solely to Nexstar’s conduct as Mission’s negotiating representative for WPIX.”

“Through the NAL, the Bureau impermissibly prejudges the allegations against Nexstar, while at the same time claiming that they `are under review by the Commission pending the outcome of ongoing investigations,' Nexstar said, adding that it “is entitled to due process."

"Before the FCC makes any determinations regarding Nexstar’s conduct, Nexstar is owed all of the rights accorded by due process and applicable rules and law, including the opportunity to fully address any Commission conclusions related to Nexstar’s conduct and the allegations set forth in Comcast’s complaint," Nexstar argued. "By directing the NAL exclusively towards Mission and asserting that it `address[es] only a subset of the allegations against Mission' and `[does] not address any of the allegations against Nexstar,’ the Bureau makes clear that it does not intend to afford Nexstar those protections here. Accordingly, while it submits this objection to address the NAL’s procedural, factual, and legal flaws, Nexstar awaits the opportunity to fully represent its interests and avail itself of applicable procedural protections in any future Notices of Apparent Liability or other proceedings that may be directed towards it.”

While the FCC has not ruled on Nexstar’s potential liability in the WPIX matter, the arguments it used to fine Mission $150,000 are very similar to the one’s it made against Nexstar in a retransmission dispute involving Hawaiian Telecom Services Company. 

In that case, the FCC has issued an order proposing fines totaling $720,000 against Nexstar for violations in how it negotiated a 2023 retransmission consent agreement with Hawaiian Telcom Services Company. Nexstar has said it will fight those fines.  

 WASHINGTON, D.C.—While the NAB has not taken a position regarding the FCC’s proposal to end early termination and some other pay TV fees, the NAB has filed comments with the FCC arguing that early termination fees “ “insulate MVPDs from the financial consequences of negotiating disputes” and that they are part of a larger effort by the pay TV operators to avoid paying retransmission consent fees and to manipulate retransmission negotiations in their favor.  

In a Feb. 5 filing with the FCC regarding its proposals to prohibit some so-called “junk” pay TV fees, the NAB said that it “does not take a position on whether the Commission has the authority to (or should) regulate use of such fees by pay TV providers” but it said that early termination fees feed “other MVPD practices [that] harm consumers; insulate MVPDs from the consequences of their own actions; and aid MVPDs in manufacturing `evidence’ of a supposedly `broken’ system through retransmission consent disputes, and all at the expense of consumers.”

After describing the pay TV industry’s longstanding attacks on paying for broadcasters content and engaging in reasonable retransmission consent negotiations, the NAB said that “[d]uring a dispute, consumers face immediate harm because they cannot access broadcast signals via their MVPD services. Consumers may decide they have had enough of disrupted access to their favorite programming, outages of their entire MVPD service, rising costs of service and/or other issues. But those that wish to terminate MVPD service often find themselves `locked in’ by the prospect of paying hundreds of dollars in ETFs. For example, both Dish and DirecTV charge subscribers an early termination fee of $20 per month remaining on their contract,” forcing consumers to pay “up to $480 in fees for a service they no longer wish to receive.”

“During retransmission consent impasses, broadcast stations also face immediate financial repercussions from reductions in ratings and ad revenues while their signals are not carried and the lack of retransmission consent compensation from that MVPD,” the NAB said. “Yet pay TV providers involved in disputes are in the short-term largely insulated from any economic harm and, instead, may reap benefits. They continue to sell programming packages to new consumers that advertise the availability of broadcast signals; continue to tack on “broadcast TV fees” to packages that are marketed as already including broadcast signals; continue to charge subscribers for programming they do not receive; and count on their subscribers not canceling service or switching providers because of iron-clad ETFs [early termination fees].”

“NAB observes that ETFs and other MVPD practices harm consumers, insulate MVPDs from the consequences of their actions, and help fuel the ability of MVPDs to manufacture `evidence' of a supposedly broken system through retransmission consent disputes,” the NAB concluded. “NAB believes that consumers should be allowed to freely choose from among their available video programming options.”

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group and FuboTV have announced that they have reached a new comprehensive multi-year distribution  agreement covering 89 Nexstar-owned local TV stations. 

The stations are affiliated with The CW Network, MyNetworkTV,  ABC, and independents, including 37 CW Network affiliates, 25 MyNetworkTV affiliates, 23 ABC affiliates,  and four independent television stations. 

The agreement also extends Fubo’s carriage of Nexstar’s national  cable news network, NewsNation. 

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group and Cox Communications  have announced that they’ve reached a comprehensive, multi-year distribution agreement.

The  agreement covers 38 Nexstar-owned television stations in 23 markets across the country, national cable  news network NewsNation, and digital networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV. 

As usual, specific terms of the  agreement were not disclosed. 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & IRVING, Texas—In a move that indicates DirecTV and Nexstar Media may be close to resolving their longstanding carriage dispute, DirecTV and Nexstar Media Group, have agreed to return Nexstar’s TV Stations and cable news network to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse.

DirecTV subscribers around the country lost access to 159 Nexstar local TV stations and Nexstar’s NewsNation cable channel on July 2 after the pay TV operator and the station group were unable to reach a new retransmission consent deal.

Given the large number of local stations and metro areas involved, DirecTV is working to restore the signals across its platforms on a rolling station-by-station basis. They are standing up the stations showing Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening football games first.

The two parties issued this joint statement: “In recognition and appreciation of the continued patience of DirecTV customers and Nexstar viewers, the companies have agreed to temporarily return the signals of the Nexstar-owned television stations and national cable news network NewsNation to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-verse while we both work to complete the terms of an agreement.”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Network has announced that the Hearst Television stations have been removed from its Dish TV offerings after the two parties were unable to come to terms on a new retransmission consent deal. 

The blackout impacts customers' access to 37 local channels in 27 markets. 

Channels impacted by Hearst's blackout include: Alburqueque, NM (KOAT), Baltimore, MD (WBAL), Birmingham, AL (WVTM), Boston, MA (WCVB & WMUR), Burlington, VT (WNNE & WPTZ),Cincinnati, OH (WLWT), Des Moines, IA (KCCI), Fort Myers, FL (WBBH), Fort Smith, AR (KHBS & KHBSD & KHOG), Greensboro, NC (WCWG & WXII), Greenville, SC (WYFF), Harrisburg, PA (WGAL), Jackson, MS (WAPT), Kansas City, MO (KCWE & KMBC), Louisville, KY (WLKY), Milwaukee, WI (WISN), Monterey, CA (KSBW & KSBWD), New Orleans, LA (WDSU), Oklahoma City, OK (KOCO), Omaha, NE (KETV), Orlando, FL (WESH & WKCF), Pittsburgh, PA (WTAE), Portland, ME (WMTW & WPXT), Sacramento, CA (KCRA & KQCA), Savannah, GA (WJCL), Tampa, FL (WMOR), West Palm Beach, FL (WPBF).

Dish said it had been in discussions with Hearst for months working to reach an agreement to keep its channels on air for customers but was unable to reach a deal because “Hearst is demanding tens of millions of dollars in rate increases that would affect customers, while it devalues its product by making programming available elsewhere, even as viewership declines” the pay TV operator said in a press release. 

"Hearst continues to raise its prices despite its declining viewership and lower-quality content," said Gary Schanman, executive vice president and group president, video services, Dish Network. "Demanding higher rates for the same entertainment and news just doesn't make sense, especially as Hearst's content is widely available on other platforms. This hurts our customers in their pocketbooks and their ability to watch the programming and content they want. Unfortunately, Hearst, like many other programmers, expects Dish and our customers to foot the bill."

Dish also described the dispute as another example of the broken pay TV system of negotiations between programmers and operators. Recently the Disney stations and channels were blacked out in a dispute with Charter and Nexstar stations remain blacked out on DirecTV. 

"It's a broken system," Schanman said. "As programmers continue to hold distributors hostage, customers will end up being impacted the most. We'll continue to negotiate for a fair deal to provide the best value for our customers. Hearst is an important long-term partner for us, and we hope they'll come to a reasonable agreement and restore their channels for our customers as quickly as possible."

In response, Hearst posted a statement to viewers on the websites of its stations. 

"Dish and Hearst Television have reached an impasse in negotiating a renewal retransmission consent agreement for the carriage of Hearst Television’s broadcast stations on Dish’s satellite system," the statement said. "We have made significant investments to deliver top tier programming to our viewers and DISH is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable."

Hearst also urged viewers who have been impacted by the dispute to use an antenna to get the free over the air broadcasts or select another pay TV operator.  

"To be clear, we have not “blacked out” our station," the statement said. "You may continue to receive our station for free, over the air, or by other satellite distribution, and, where available, from cable operators. You can determine the type of antenna needed to receive the signals of our station at http://www.antennaweb.org/."

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group and Hawaiian Telcom have announced a new multi-year distribution agreement covering Nexstar’s three local television stations serving Hawaii, the company's national cable news network, NewsNation, and its digital network, Rewind TV.

The deal ends a blackout that began in early July. 

The agreement will provide thousands of Hawaiian Telecom subscribers with access to local and national network programming  KHON-TV (FOX), KHON2 (CW), and KHII-TV (MyNet), the companies said. 

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

In a letter to the FCC, DirecTV has accused Nexstar of expanding the blackout of Nexstar stations on DirecTV to include 21 Sinclair-owned CW stations. 

Nexstar owns 75% of the CW.

“Nexstar has become the largest broadcast station group by exploiting loopholes in the  FCC’s broadcast ownership rules,” DirecTV complained in a letter to the FCC. “By its own account, it serves markets reaching 68 percent of  television households—that is, the vast majority of DirecTV’s customers and potential  customers. Nexstar recently incited the largest programming blackout in history against  DirecTV. Last week, it expanded this blackout to include CW network programming on  Sinclair owned and managed local stations on DirecTV’s streaming service. It has, in other  words, dragged into its dispute new viewers of a competing broadcaster against their will and  regardless of DirecTV’s agreements to serve these viewers.”

“This behavior reveals what is truly motivating affiliates’ calls for regulation of online  providers,” the letter continued. “It is not local news; it is their economic position. Broadcast affiliates, including Nexstar, have complained that networks control negotiations with online providers to the  detriment of local stations, especially local news. Now that it owns a network, however, Nexstar  has done just that—required another broadcaster to black out programming on its local stations  notwithstanding agreements that other broadcasters had negotiated. Nexstar’s conduct shows  that affiliates’ attempt to regulate online providers has never really been about “preserving local  broadcasting” or anything else of the sort. Affiliates simply want the government to give them  leverage against the networks.”

“Nexstar is and always has been in full compliance with FCC regulations, and the allegations raised by DirecTV in its recent filing are without merit," Nexstar said in a statement responding to the letter.

The letter is part of ongoing bitter legal and regulatory disputes between DirecTV and Nexstar that includes the recent blackout of its stations on DirecTV platforms, lawsuits and a informal complaint DirecTV made with the FCC against Nexstar. 

It also highlights ongoing disputes over retransmission consent rules, which DirecTV called “dysfunctional” in the June 18 letter and efforts by members of Congress, and broadcasters, including the NAB and a new group launched this week called “The Coalition for Local News”, to change the way station groups negotiate carriage with virtual VMPDs like DirecTV Stream.

In the FCC letter, DirecTV noted that  "DirecTV carries 21 CW-affiliated stations owned or managed by  Sinclair Broadcast Group pursuant to retransmission consent agreements (in the case of its  satellite service) and copyright license agreements (in the case of its streaming service) it has  negotiated with Sinclair. On July 11, Sinclair told DirecTV that these stations are no longer  authorized to provide CW network content to DirecTV’s streaming service because Nexstar  had withdrawn Sinclair’s rights to do so. Sinclair thus required DirecTV to black out this  programming from its streaming service, and DirecTV complied with this directive beginning  on July 12."  

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Local broadcast station groups, with the support of ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS television Affiliate Associations representing more than 600 local TV stations across the country, have launched The Coalition for Local News. 

The new advocacy group said it will work to protect the future of local news in America and work with lawmakers and regulators on policies that will strengthen the local news business. 

"Local broadcast stations can thrive in a fair marketplace. We have demonstrated as much over the past 30 years of successful competition in the cable and satellite era. But no business can succeed when the rules don't apply fairly and reflect today's reality," says Mike Meara, former chair of the ABC television Affiliates Association and member of the Coalition. "The market has evolved dramatically and it's time for lawmakers and regulators to act to protect local broadcast news."

In announcing the launch, the group said that the future of local broadcast news is threatened by regulations that need to be modernized and the failure of government agencies to use the existing authority they have to protect the competitive position of local news outlets. 

One such area, the group said, is the so-called "streaming loophole" in the current FCC rule requiring cable and satellite providers, but not online streaming services, to negotiate directly with local broadcasters for carriage of their stations. Today, streaming services represent about one-third of the pay-TV market. 

Typically the networks, not the station groups, handle negotiations with such vMVPDs, such as FuboTV or YouTube TV, which has produced tension between affiliate groups and the media companies owning broadcast networks. 

This means, the group contends, that local television stations have lost control of their retransmission consent rights and that current rules have cut them out of the negotiating process with streaming services. 

Without the ability to negotiate directly with streaming services, local broadcasters cannot obtain the compensation necessary for them to sustain their substantial investments in local news, the new group said. 

This issue has also been highlighted by the NAB as something the FCC needs to address. 

The FCC itself began a process to consider the issue of the "streaming loophole" back in 2014 when it solicited public comment, but it has not addressed the issue since, the group said. 

Last month, Senator Maria Cantwell sent a letter to the FCC requesting that it refresh the record to address the current media environment and protect local news in the streaming era. 

The Coalition said that one of its chief priorities is urging the FCC to do just that – refresh the record now with comments that reflect the vastly changed market realities of 2023. 

Last week, the FCC announced its intent to consider updating a separate set of longstanding program carriage rules, an acknowledgment of the need to modernize video regulations in light of a changing marketplace.

"Congress and the FCC have always modernized federal rules in other contexts to keep them in line with advancements in communications technologies and changes in the marketplace. All we ask is that we modernize these regulations to reflect the current marketplace so local broadcasters are able to compete and thrive on a level playing field," says Michael O'Brien, senior vice president at The E.W. Scripps Company, and member of the Coalition. "This 'streaming loophole' takes direct investments away from local broadcasters and allows national media conglomerates to control the right to local broadcasters' signals, ultimately deciding the fate of local news."

The Coalition will be engaged in an array of advocacy efforts, including working with groups that recognize the vital importance of local news and urging them to get involved in this debate, the group said. 

More information is available at coalitionforlocalnews.org.

NEW YORK—Amid growing concerns about an economic recession and wider media trends that threaten local broadcast TV revenue, a new report from S&P Global Ratings argues that the financial state of local broadcasting is relatively secure and has issued a "stable" credit ratings outlook for local broadcasters. 

The analysis comes at a time when despite widespread cord cutting has increased fears that broadcasters could see declines retransmission fee revenue.

While retransmission revenue growth slowed significantly across the U.S. local TV industry in 2022, to around 3% from around 10% in the previous two years, S&P is predicting growth in retransmission revenue over the next two years. 

S&P remains skeptical, however, that NextGen TV will provide significant new revenue in the near term and downplayed the potential upside from local sports in its financial analysis of local TV. 

“We believe retransmission revenue will increase annually in the mid-single-digit percent area over the next two years,” explained Rose Oberman, credit analyst, S&P Global Ratings. “Our industry forecast assumes total pay-TV subscribers will decline more than 7% per annum over the next two years. This will be more than offset by local TV broadcasters negotiating higher retransmission rates during contract renewals with pay-TV distributors. We believe retransmission revenue growth will flatten after 2024 and potentially turn negative after 2025, as more moderate price increases during contract renewals (given declining TV audiences, weaker broadcast network content, and less exclusive broadcast network content) become insufficient to offset subscriber churn.”

The report noted that beyond 2025, “we expect retransmission revenue will eventually decline. However, we believe revenue declines will be manageable and no higher than in the low-single-digit percent area within the next five years. We believe broadcast TV will remain a key component of pay-TV distributors' video offerings as the broadcast networks will continue to carry key sports programming.”

Overtime that will reduce the importance of retransmission revenue, which currently represents more than 40% of total revenue for most local TV broadcasters, and make core advertising (excluding political ad spending) an increasing percentage of industry revenues.

The report also addressed the issue of whether NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 will provide a significant revenue boost in the near terms. While NextGen TV could present revenue opportunities for datacasting and targeted advertising, the report said they were “skeptical as to what extent ATSC 3.0 can be monetized and do not expect to incorporate any benefit from it in our analysis until the industry has demonstrated an ability to sign and implement new contracts and generate meaningful revenue from it.”

S&P expects that “local TV broadcasters will benefit from $4 billion in high-margin political advertising revenue in 2024 given the U.S. presidential election to help reduce leverage. While we expect a shallow recession in 2023 will reduce core advertising by about 3% in 2023, we expect it will largely recover in 2024 as economic conditions improve. To the extent that retransmission revenue growth becomes negative over the longer-term, this could trigger a reassessment of our views on the sector.”

Looking ahead, the report also covered other potential revenue opportunities, including local sports. While acquiring sports rights could provide an opportunity to increase local advertising revenues over the next couple of years, the report doubted this would notably boost retransmission fees and noted that the cost of sports rights could hurt margins. 

“Nexstar and E.W. Scripps could be in unique positions to acquire sports content, given Nexstar's 75% ownership of the CW Network and E.W. Scripp's ownership of the ION Television Network because they fully control those broadcast networks' programming,” the report said. 

More information on accessing the report is available here.  

NEW YORK—In a notable example of the growing tensions between national broadcast networks and local station groups, a number of major station groups have removed their CBS affiliates from the streaming pay TV service, FuboTV. 

Paramount Global had negotiated a carriage deal with FuboTV that includes carriage of the local stations. But the CBS Affiliate Board refused to back the deal and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media, Gray Television, E.W. Scripps Co., Tegna, Hearst Television and Cox Media Group have since removed their CBS affiliates from FuboTV.

Traditionally negotiations with streaming services like FuboTV have been handled at the local level but the growing importance of streaming media has pushed stations to be more aggressive in this area and heightened ongoing tensions between the networks and their affiliates. 

Paramount Global is providing the national CBS network feed without the local content from stations to FuboTV. 

“FuboTV’s affiliation agreement with Paramount Global includes our right to carry CBS-owned and operated local stations and affiliated stations upon their election to opt into it,” FuboTV noted in a statement to its subscribers. “Unfortunately, some CBS affiliates have decided not to opt into our current agreement. CBS has provided a national feed in those affected markets, allowing our customers to continue watching their favorite CBS programming.” 

FuboTV said that Paramount Global national networks such as CBS Sports Network, CBS News, SHOWTIME, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, and Paramount Network, among others, are not affected by the dispute, which only impacts local CBS affiliates in select areas. 

Sister publication B+C reported that “in a note to stations last week, the CBS affiliate board said it `remains adamantly opposed to Paramount’s insistence on controlling the retransmission rights of independently-owned local CBS affiliates on vMVPD platforms like Fubo.’”

B+C also reported that the CBS affiliate board, which did not endorse Paramount’s FuboTV deal,  told stations “Paramount negotiates on behalf of 100% of all local stations in conjunction with Paramount’s other over two dozen cable networks. Once Paramount reaches an agreement conferring unknown value on its own cable channels and other assets, it presents a take-it-or-leave-it' offer to 'opt in' to a vMVPD distribution agreement with no changes.”

More on the controversy can be found here.  

NEW YORK–Following reports over the weekend that Nextstar and Comcast had come to terms on a new carriage agreement, the parties filed papers in the Southern District of New York Federal Court indicating they had settled a lawsuit relating to a long-running carriage dispute regarding WPIX in New York. The judge presiding over the case issued an order dismissing the litigation unless one of the parties files to reinstate it in the next 45 days. 

TV Tech has separately confirmed that Nexstar and Comcast have reached a new carriage agreement and the new agreement led to the dismissal of the Federal litigation. 

If the agreement had not been reached, about 90 Nexstar stations could have been blacked out in Comcast systems around the country. In addition, the two parties came to an agreement that restored WPIX station to Comcast systems in the Tri-State area. 

Comcast had been forced to drop WPIX on Dec. 3 after its carriage agreement with Mission Broadcasting had expired. Nexstar handles the retransmission negotiations for WPIX. 

The dispute dates back to 2021 when Comcast filed a complaint with the FCC relating to its carriage dispute with WPIX arguing that Nexstar was violating the ownership caps by handling the retransmission consent negotiations for Mission Broadcasting. 

Nexstar followed up by suing Comcast in the Southern District of New York for unpaid retransmission fees. 

“Comcast has flouted the terms of the parties’” agreement and refused to pay “millions of dollars,” the suit said.

The new carriage agreement and the restoration of WPIX on Comcast systems led that litigation being settled. 

Another issue is the ongoing dispute with the FCC. On December 12, 2022, Comcast filed a formal complaint with the FCC saying Mission Broadcasting and Nexstar had refused to negotiate in good faith.

 In an email to TV Tech a Comcast spokesperson said: “Our recent retransmission consent agreement with Nexstar settles the pending litigation our companies have in the Southern District of New York.  However, it does not address our proceedings at the FCC, which remain open.”

IRVING, TX and NEW YORK CITY—Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Verizon FiOS have reached a comprehensive multi-year distribution agreement that will restore local television stations in 10 markets and Nexstar’s national cable news network, NewsNation to the Verizon FioS line-up.   

These 13 local television stations and related cable and multi-cast networks had been off of Verizon’s  platform system since October 14 at midnight when the two companies were unable to come to terms on a new carriage agreement.  

The deal means that more than three million Verizon FiOS subscribers will again have access to the  network and local entertainment, live sports, and news programming provided by these local  television stations and by NewsNation. 

The agreement also means that Verizon subscribers won’t miss the start of Major  League Baseball’s World Series, which begins tonight, or any of this weekend’s college and NFL Football  games, the companies said. 

WASHINGTON D.C.—In a new filing with the FCC, the ACA Connects group representing smaller cable operators argues that the “broken multichannel video market,” particularly the process of negotiating retransmission agreements with larger broadcast station groups, “disproportionately harms small and rural MVPDs and their customers.”   

The ACA made the comments in reference to an Public Notice issued by the FCC seeking comment on competitive issues and trends in communications markets as part of the Commission producing its “2022 Communications Marketplace Report,” which will be the third of these biennial reports.

In the filing the ACA noted that “the marketplace for multichannel video service is rife with dysfunction, and that smaller MVPDs and their customers suffer the most….Broadcasters and programmers continue to saddle ACA Connects Members with unreasonably high and ever-increasing fees for programming, along with onerous conditions that result in escalating rates for the declining share of consumers that continue to receive traditional cable television.”

The ACA has particularly harsh comments on retransmission consent. “With respect to retransmission consent, the Commission’s `buying group' rules implemented under the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA) have improved matters to some degree by enabling smaller MVPDs to work through the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to negotiate deals with large station groups, but the fundamental problems that plague this market have not changed, especially for smaller MVPDs," the ACA said. “Both the 2018 and 2020 reports revealed—unsurprisingly—that small MVPDs pay significantly higher retransmission consent fees than their large MVPD counterparts.”

“The problems in the MVPD market are particularly dire when it comes to retransmission consent," the ACA added later in the filing. “The situation has always been bad, but has become worse over time as more station groups have grown larger across markets and within them. Indeed, broadcasters have increasingly evaded the media ownership rules to amass duopolies, triopolies, and even quadropolies of `Big Four' networks in some markets. With their consolidated market power, broadcasters have been able to extract escalating fees from MVPDs in exchange for access to their Big 4 network programming. For providers, the options are either to accept the record-setting retransmission consent fees or face a blackout that can wreck a small business.”

To help resolve the problem, the ACA said the FCC needed to collect better data. “In the forthcoming Report, we encourage the Commission to further improve its reporting on the retransmission consent size disparity by accounting for the number of retransmission consent stations carried by MVPD systems of different sizes,” the ACA wrote. “According to the 2020 report, smaller systems paid on average 37.3 percent more per subscriber. On average, small operators paid $178.13 per subscriber per year, whereas large operators paid $124.67 per subscriber per year” even though the smaller systems were “carrying 2.72 fewer stations. Hence, the true `size penalty’ is likely greater.”

In the same filing the ACA included its report on broadband competition, which argues that the fixed broadband market is competitive and needs no further regulation. 

Citing FCC data, the ACA argued that “fixed broadband competition is thriving in the United States and will become only more intense in the near future. Specifically, the vast majority of U.S. households either already have or soon will have access to at least two providers of fast and reliable fixed broadband service. Furthermore, even for those households that may not have access to two such providers in the near future, most of these households either already have or soon will have access to a subsidized provider of fixed broadband service whose prices and other terms of service are already subject to regulatory oversight. Thus, there is no need to impose additional heavy handed common-carrier-style regulation on fixed broadband providers as a whole. Doing so would yield few, if any, tangible benefits while discouraging entry, investment and innovation, to the detriment of consumers. Finally, a strong case can be made for exempting smaller providers from any such regulation even if it were to be imposed on larger providers.”

The full filing is available here. 

MEDIACOM PARK, N.Y.—Mediacom Communications has announced that it has renewed its carriage agreement with Paramount Global.

The deal renews carriage rights for Paramount’s portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news, and sports networks – including BET, CBS Sports Network, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Smithsonian Channel, and others – as well as rights to ShowtimeOTT and retransmission consent rights to CBS broadcast stations owned and operated by Paramount.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

“We are pleased to announce our continued partnership with Paramount,” said Italia Commisso Weinand, executive vice president, programming & human resources, Mediacom Communications. “Thank you to the Paramount and Mediacom teams for their hard work and commitment to our relationship.”

BALTIMORE, M.D.–After months of intensive negotiations, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and Charter Communications, Inc. have reached a comprehensive distribution agreement for continued carriage of Sinclair’s owned local broadcast stations, Tennis Channel, 19 Bally Sports RSN brands, Marquee Sports Network and the YES Network, in which Sinclair is a joint venture partner.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The deal is an important one for Sinclair, which has been struggling to get carriage for the regional sports networks, which is owned by a joint venture carrying nearly $10 billion in debt. 

Sinclair has been hoping to launch many of those as direct-to-consumer services, though the announcement made no mention of streaming or if Charter will offer the direct-to-consumer streaming services as well as the linear TV networks after they launch. 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Network Corporation has announced it reached a new carriage agreement with Tegna Inc. and that local stations have been immediately restored on Dish TV.

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement in time for the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl that benefits all parties, especially our customers," said Brian Neylon, group president, Dish TV. "I want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we worked through the negotiations."

The agreement provides Dish TV subscribers nationwide the ability to tune in to Tegna-owned programming, including news, entertainment and sports.

In a separate statement, Lynn Beall, executive vice president and COO, media operations at Tegna said, “we are pleased to announce that we have reached a new agreement with DISH, restoring our valuable and important live local news, live local and national sports and highly popular network content to DISH TV subscribers. We appreciate the patience of our viewers while we worked toward reaching an agreement.”

The agreement includes retransmission consent for all 64 Tegna-owned stations.

The stations were dropped from the Dish lineup in October of 2021 when Tegna and Dish were unable to agree on a new carriage deal. 

The blackout had impacted viewers of various ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, MNT and TDO stations in 53 markets nationwide.  

NEW YORK—Tegna local stations were dropped from Verizon Fios TV on Tuesday January 5, after the two companies were unable to reach a new retransmission consent agreement. 

The two companies extended the deadline to January 5 after the old agreement expired last week but were unable to reach a new deal. 

In a statement, Tegna said: 

“We have been working for months to reach a fair, market-based agreement with Verizon based on the competitive terms we’ve used to reach deals with other major providers. We even offered Verizon an extension that kept our stations available to viewers through the holiday weekend. We are especially disappointed that Verizon has pulled access at a time when local broadcast stations are a lifeline, connecting people to the news, information, and entertainment they need and want most. We hope that Verizon realizes how important our stations are to their subscribers and works with us to reach a fair agreement.” 

The majority of the subs impacted are in the D.C. market, with Buffalo, Norfolk, Harrisburg and Hartford also affected. 

Verizon said the following channels were impacted: 

• WUSA CBS (509 HD / 9 SD) in Washington D.C.
• WPMT FOX (504 HD / 4 SD) in York/Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon, Pennsylvania. 
• WVEC ABC (513 HD / 13 SD) in Hampton/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• WGRZ NBC (502 HD / 2 SD) in Buffalo/Niagara Falls, New York and Toronto/Niagara Falls, Ontario. 
• WCCT CW (491, 516 HD / 16 SD) in Waterbury/Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut.

In a statement, Verizon apologized for the disruption and said “We are trying our best to reach a reasonable deal with Tegna and hope Tegna will restore its channels to our lineup soon.” 

Verizon also noted that “This is not the first time that Tegna has removed their content from a TV provider. Tegna has a track record of removing their content when a TV provider refuses to accept their demands for unreasonable rate increases.”

Tegna stations have still not been restored to Dish subscribers after a carriage dispute that began in the fall. 

There has also been a blackout of Tegna stations impacting Mediacom customers since December 31, 2020.  

 PHILADELPHIA & BURBANK, Calif.—Comcast and The Walt Disney Company have renewed a wide ranging content carriage agreement. As part of the new deal, which includes ABC owned stations, cable networks and streaming services, ESPN’S ACC Network will launch in coming weeks to Comcast’s  Xfinity customers, providing fans of the Atlantic Coast Conference access to the multiplatform network.

The multi-year agreement encompasses continued distribution of Disney’s cable channels, including the ESPN networks, the Disney branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks, and the National Geographic channels. The renewal also includes continued distribution of the SEC Network, now in its eighth season, as well as retransmission consent for the ABC Owned Television Stations in New York (ABC7/WABC-TV), Chicago (ABC7/WLS-TV), Philadelphia (6ABC/WPVI-TV), San Francisco (ABC7/KGO-TV), Houston (ABC13/KTRK-TV), Raleigh-Durham (ABC11/WTVD-TV) and Fresno (ABC30/KFSN-TV). 

Earlier this year, Comcast launched Disney+ and ESPN+ to Xfinity customers and those services continue to be available.

“We are very pleased to have reached this comprehensive agreement with Disney to continue providing Xfinity customers access to their content across our industry-leading platforms,” said Rebecca Heap, senior vice president, consumer products & propositions, Comcast Cable.

“We’re very happy to extend our longstanding relationship with Comcast and continue to provide their Xfinity customers with Disney’s best-in-class programming,” added Sean Breen, executive vice president, platform distribution, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “In addition to our news, sports and general entertainment offerings, the launch of the ACC Network in the coming weeks, paired with the renewal of the SEC Network, will give Xfinity’s college sports fans long-awaited access to their favorite games.”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Tegna accusing the station group of bad faith during failed negotiations for a new retransmission consent agreement that resulted in Tegna’s local stations being removed from Dish’s channel line-up in 53 markets across the country.

"Tegna turned its back on its public interest obligation and failed to engage in good faith retransmission consent negotiations with Dish," said Andy LeCuyer, Dish senior vice president of programming. "Tegna's demands were both unreasonable and inconsistent. This behavior negatively impacts Dish subscribers, and we expect Tegna's bad behavior to only get worse as the programmer looks to sell its stations to the highest bidder. As a result, we have filed a formal complaint with the FCC to address Tegna's blatant disregard of the Commission's rules."

In the complaint, Dish cites a number of examples of what it calls bad faith, including appearing to demand that Dish pay for all subscribers in a local market whether they purchase local programming from Dish or not, and appearing to demand that Dish pay for viewers who are no longer subscribers of Dish. 

Tegna's demands would have totaled nearly a billion dollars in fees, Dish asserted. 

Dish's complaint against Tegna Inc. can be found here.  

In response, Tenga issued a statement saying, "Dish’s complaint is utterly baseless and without merit. Tegna welcomes a chance for the FCC to review Dish’s conduct over the course of this negotiation. Perhaps a close examination of Dish’s conduct will cause them to come to the table to negotiate free from their consistently unproductive tactics and public misrepresentations."

"The real issue at hand is the need for Dish to stop short-changing their customers by serially dropping valued stations and instead reach fair, market-based deals with programmers like Tegna," the station group also noted. 

"The unfortunate reality is that Dish dropped more than 230 channels last year alone and is now repeating that pattern by refusing to reach an agreement with Tegna, depriving its customers nationwide of some of the most valued programming on TV. Through it all, Tegna has been steadfast in insisting that all we want is to reach a fair deal, and we have worked constructively to achieve that goal by offering Dish terms and conditions that reflect the marketplace and have served as the foundation for deals we have reached with other cable and satellite providers.

"Tegna made a comprehensive proposal to Dish months ago and has updated its proposal multiple times, including a reduction in rates," Tegna explained. "Dish has refused to counter – it has not proposed rates in more than three weeks."

NEW YORK—The increasingly bitter retransmission dispute between Nexstar and Comcast over WPIX in New York City, has prompted Nexstar to file a lawsuit asking the court to find “Comcast liable for breach of contract” and award Nexstar damages. 

“Nexstar was forced to bring this action because Comcast has flouted the terms of the parties’ retransmission consent agreement and refused to pay millions of dollars in fees owed to Nexstar,” the lawsuit stated. It was filed the Supreme Court Of The State Of New York, County Of New York.

The lawsuit comes after Comcast recently asked the FCC to rule that Nexstar was violating ownership caps because its agreement to divest WPIX was “a sham.”

In the lawsuit, Nexstar noted that Comcast and Nexstar had carefully negotiated a retransmission consent agreement in January of 2020 with provisions stating that "in certain specific circumstances, retransmission of the programming of a station not owned by Nexstar would also be governed by the parties’ agreement.” 

“In negotiating the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement, Comcast contemplated that Nexstar might contract with independently owned, third-party stations to provide local programming and other `local marketing’ services,'” the suit explained. "Accordingly, the parties carefully negotiated a provision in the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement, which provided that if Nexstar contracted to provide local marketing services to a third-party station during the term of the contract and had authority to negotiate retransmission consent on behalf of that station, then the third party station would become governed by the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement as an `Additional Station.’” 

The suit also noted that the two “parties specifically contemplated that WPIX (CW – New York) (`WPIX’), a New York City television station, might become an Additional Station pursuant to the Additional Stations provision. The parties therefore also negotiated the fees that would be paid for WPIX if the station were added to the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement.”

About a year later, the suit explained that WPIX was sold to Mission Broadcasting and Nexstar entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission to provide programming and other support services to WPIX. 

“The transaction was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) without any objections from Comcast or other cable companies,” the suit continued. This meant that Comcast’s “retransmission of WPIX became governed by the terms of the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement, including the specific fees that the parties had negotiated,” the suit explained. 

“Rather than live up to its end of the bargain, however, Comcast decided to repudiate the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement,” the suit noted. “Comcast stated that it would not comply with its obligations under the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement, and confirmed that it had not been (and would not be) paying the fees required under that agreement for WPIX.”

“Even more shocking, when Nexstar reached out to Comcast to request that it pay the contractual fees, Comcast refused to negotiate and instead blindsided Nexstar by filing a post-hoc petition with the FCC, demanding that the agency reverse its prior approval of the WPIX LMA in order to nullify Comcast’s contractual promises,” the lawsuit noted.

The lawsuit asks for a ruling “declaring that the Comcast-Nexstar Agreement’s terms govern Comcast’s retransmission of WPIX, finding Comcast liable for breach of contract, and awarding Nexstar its damages, plus applicable interest” and that the court award “Nexstar its losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses incurred in this action, including but not limited to any attorneys’ fees, court costs, and expert fees.”

WASHINGTON D.C.—In a recent presentation to a FCC commissioner, Gray Television pitched the idea that the economics of local news could be strengthened by a variety of FCC actions, including a ruling on a 2014 proposal to apply retransmission regulations to online video. 

Gray Television counsel Robert M. McDowell made the proposals to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and his media advisor, Adam Cassady on May 21. The presentation is available here,

Noting that stations have increased local TV news by 60% since 2003 and that local news provides an extremely important source of information, McDowell argued that “to promote local journalism going forward, the FCC should be considering regulatory initiatives to permit efficient defensive business combinations and to further reduce outdated and counter-productive regulatory burdens that undermine broadcasters’ crucial revenue streams.”

McDowell also noted that “due to quirks in federal copyright law and the FCC’s regulations, online video distributors like Dish Sling, Hulu and YouTube TV currently are not required to negotiate retransmission consent with individual stations,” which reduces the revenue stations get to fund their newsrooms. 

To rectify this problem, McDowell argued that the FCC could move on a rule making action pending since 2014 that would classify linear online video distributors as MVPDs for retransmission consent purposes. 

MdDowell also pressed for regulatory relief in a number of areas that he contended would strengthen the economic viability of producing expensive local TV news. 

These include: small market duopoly relief; excluding local news from 15% programming limitation for local marketing agreements; expanding the Incubator Program to television with a focus on local news production; and reducing record keeping requirements.

WASHINGTON—ACA Connects is worried about the transformation of broadcast TV from something local to something more corporate, which it says is evident in the rising retransmission consent fees, which saw a nearly 20% increase in 2019.

A recent meeting with a representative from FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington’s office with ACA Connect’s Ross Lieberman and outside counsel Michael Nilsson, detailed in an ex parte filing, discussed how growing consolidation is impacting the broadcast industry, i.e., local stations are now often dealing with corporate representatives, which could raise numerous policy issues.

One such issue is the rising retransmission consent fees. Citing a FCC report, ACA Connects points out that cable operators paid more than $5.5 billion dollars in retransmission fees in 2019, up 19.2% from the previous year. ACA Connects says that it has heard from broadcasters that the demand for high and increasing fee prices continued in 2020, which it claims is backed up by analyst reports.

With these increases, there is a disparity between small cable operators and large ones, ACA Connects notes. Per the FCC report, small cable operators paid $178.13 per subscriber, per year in retransmission fees. Large cable operators, meanwhile, paid on average $124.67 per subscriber, a 43% difference. “And according to the FCC, the disparity between small and large cable systems is only getting larger,” ACA Connects wrote.

In addition, these increased fees and disputes over them have led to an increased number of TV blackouts. Per ACA Connects, 2019 saw 219 instances of broadcasters blacking out their signal. In 2020, there were a reported 342 blackouts.

“In other words, on nearly 350 occasions last year, cable and satellite subscribers who had one nothing wrong lost access to local news and network programming, just so the largest broadcasters could serve their bottom line,” wrote ACA Connects.

However, ACA Connects did note two positive developments regarding retransmission fees. The first was the implementation of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019. This law requires large TV station ownership groups to negotiate retrans in good faith with buying groups like the National Cable Television Cooperative. ACA Connects members said that NCTC helped conclude retransmission deals with many large broadcast groups covered by TVPA.

Also, ACA Connects praised that the FCC is beginning to enforce good-faith negotiation rules, including a nearly $10 million fine against Sinclair Broadcast Group stations and $48 million in fines against Sinclair itself.

Other suggestions made during the meeting to address concerns of broadcast consolidation and retransmission consent included a national ownership cap, local ownership rules, “the totality of circumstances” test for good faith negotiations, ATSC 3.0 or the proceeding seeking to define MVPDs.

The complete ex parte filing is available through the FCC website. 

NEW YORK & PHILADELPHIA—ViacomCBS owned stations and networks won’t be going away for Comcast customers anytime soon, as the two sides have come to terms on a renewed content carriage agreement.

The deal will continue retransmission consent of 23 CBS-owned TV stations in 15 markets across the U.S., including CBS-owned CW affiliates. It will also continue the distribution of entertainment and sports channels like Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, Pop TV and CBS Sports Network to Xfinity customers.

Something new to the deal is the addition of the CBS All Access digital subscription on-demand and livestreaming service to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms later in 2020. ViacomCBS says this is the first time the CBS All Access app will be available on an MVPD-based set-top box.

In addition, the agreement covers TV Everywhere availability of programming from CBS Television Network and CBS Sports Network to Xfinity customers on CBS.com, the CBS app and Xfinity Stream. Showtime Anytime will also continue to provide Xfinity Showtime subscribers with unlimited access to its content online and on mobile devices.

The markets impacted by the deal are: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore for CBS-owned stations; and Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore for CW affiliates.

Also, two MyNetwork affiliates will be available in Boston and Miami, and the CBS-owned independent station will be available in New York.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BALTIMORE—Following an extension last month that avoided a blackout of Sinclair stations for AT&T customers, the two sides have announced that they have reached a multi-year retransmission consent agreement for DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-Verse subscribers.

The deal covers Sinclair’s owned local broadcast stations, the Tennis Channel, the 21 regional sports networks that Sinclair acquired, the YES Network and the upcoming Marquee Sports Network that will carry Chicago Cubs games.

Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.

CHANTILLY, VA—BIA Advisory Services—a provider of data-centered market research, analysis, strategic consulting and valuation services for the local media industry—projects that local TV station revenue will reach $27.7 billion, up from $26.2 billion in 2017.  

Anticipating higher ad revenues driven by political ads, BIA Advisory also projects $18.2 billion for over-the-air ad revenue, up 5.8 percent—and $1.1 billion for digital revenue, up 6.3 percent—compared to 2017. And retransmission consent agreements between local TV stations and cable/satellite companies will contribute another $8.4 billion to the industry’s total revenue this year.

“This year will be particularly interesting to watch in terms of political and digital. Local television is at a juncture where strategic decisions will be key to their success,” said Mark Fratrik, senior vice president and chief economist at BIA Advisory Services. “We anticipate political advertising will generate significant ad revenue for local television this year, in particular for over-the-air revenue. Of all media, television still dominates in political years, even as campaigns integrate more digital advertising into their overall strategy.”

[Read: Global Consumer Spending On Entertainment Media To Reach $439B By 2021]

BIA Advisory claims that the local TV industry is offsetting flat over-the-air revenues by expanding its multiplatform advertising to deliver content more effectively in today’s multi-touch point content ecosystem. The firm estimates that location-targeted mobile ad spend will be $22.1 billion in 2018, which includes $3.1 billion of additional mobile advertising sold by traditional media players, including TV broadcasters and other traditional media.

“Mobile advertising is a smart play for television because it offers a unique opportunity to leverage existing assets, such as news and weather, through sponsored mobile websites and applications,” Fratrik adds. “These types of efforts are important as over-the-top—or OTT—services continue to attract viewers.”

BIA Advisory published these findings, along with a comprehensive profile of all 210 television markets plus Puerto Rico, in the first-quarter edition of its “Investing In Television Market Report,” as well as its software database, Media Access Pro, an analytical data service that delivers comprehensive information on the radio, TV and newspaper industries. BIA also delivers nationwide and local market forecasts in BIA ADVantage, a local market intelligence dashboard. 

WASHINGTON—The American Cable Association is among those raising concerns about the potential impact of any new media consolidation.

ACA represents smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies whose subscribers primarily are in rural and smaller suburban markets.

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, the trade group discussed possible changes to the rule that bans a TV station group from reaching more than 39 percent of U.S. TV households.

It said that broadcasters must demonstrate that any benefits of new consolidation would outweigh the downsides including harms related to retransmission consent. “ACA remains skeptical that such a case can be made, and the recent revelations that allegedly ‘local’ news anchors must read scripts delivered from Sinclair corporate headquarters have only deepened our skepticism," ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka stated in an announcement.

[Read: State AGs Say FCC Can't Raise Ownership Cap]

The group responded to discussions about the UHF discount, which allows UHFs to reduce the number of households their signals reach when calculating audience reach. It noted that the system was created when analog UHF signals were weaker than analog VHF signals; now, it said, the NAB wants to expand the discount based not on signal strength but because stations “reach” a smaller audience than they did before as broadcast ratings have decreased — thus all stations UHF and VHF alike should now receive a discount.

ACA countered by saying the FCC has no discretion to change the basis of how the UHF discount is calculated; and that even if it could, the commission can’t rationally provide all stations with the same discount. “Ratings have nothing to do with a station’s ‘reach,’ at least as the FCC has always understood that term, and the FCC cannot now change that understanding, which, since at least 2004, has been Congress’ understanding too,” it wrote.

The cable group said the commission will have to justify any “Everybody Discount” in the same way it must justify raising or eliminating the national 39 percent cap itself. “If the FCC lacks authority to raise the ownership cap directly, it also lacks authority to circumvent the cap through creative changes to the UHF discount.”