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.”
