Nexstar, Comcast Settle Retrans Contract Lawsuit

Nexstar and Comcast settled a year-old legal battle over a retransmission consent agreement for Mission Broadcasting’s WPIX New York, said an order Monday in docket 1:21-cv-06860 in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York (see 2211010063). Nexstar didn’t comment on the details of the settlement, but a Comcast spokesperson said the companies now have a retransmission consent agreement. The settlement resolves a breach of contract suit that began after Nexstar sought to apply after-acquired clauses to WPIX’s retransmission consent contracts with Comcast, after WPIX was acquired by the Nexstar-affiliated Mission Broadcasting. Comcast reacted by filing a petition for declaratory ruling against Nexstar with the FCC arguing Nexstar was violating media ownership limits, and Nexstar responded by filing the lawsuit against Comcast. The FCC never acted on Comcast’s petition, and Comcast said Tuesday the matter remains open and isn’t affected by the settlement. Charter filed a similar challenge in the superior court of Delaware, which a Nexstar spokesperson said remains ongoing. Late last month Nexstar lost a battle over discovery in the case, with two judges ruling retrans negotiations over WPIX during the lawsuit led to a blackout and Comcast filing a good faith negotiation complaint against Nexstar earlier this month (see 2212130029)