Nexstar, Mission Challenge Proposed $150,000 Retrans Fine
The proposed $150,000 fine for Mission Broadcasting's alleged retransmission consent negotiation violations (see 2401120069) is unreasonably large, and the violation finding is wrong, Mission said Tuesday. In a docket 22-443 response to the FCC Media Bureau's notice of apparent liability,…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Mission said the NAL focuses on Nexstar-proposed language for inclusion in an agreement to settle litigation with Comcast, not for a retrans consent agreement. It said the proposed forfeiture is in excess of the bureau's delegated authority and should be $7,500 at most. In addition, Nexstar said the NAL "is procedurally improper, prejudicial, and unsupported by the facts or the law." It added that the NAL claims it doesn't address allegations against Nexstar, but Comcast's allegations concerned Nexstar's conduct as Mission's negotiating representative for WPIX New York. Nexstar said the bureau "impermissibly prejudges" allegations against it that supposedly remain under investigation. Treating the settlement proposal that was quickly rejected as a continuing violation over a period of days is unreasonable and not factually supported, Nexstar said.