DIRECTV Again Urges Federal Communications Commission to Investigate Nexstar for Unlawful Control of Stations
DIRECTV and Nexstar do not appear at all ready to play nice. Relations between the two companies seem to be worsening, a fact made evident by DIRECTV’s latest filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging an investigation into Nexstar’s business practices.
The satellite provider sued Nexstar in March, claiming that it had colluded with two other broadcasters — White Knight Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting — to manipulate retransmission fees. In June, DIRECTV filed an informal complaint with the FCC, stating that by exercising de facto control over White Knight and Mission, Nexstar was violating a federal law that stipulates no broadcaster can own stations that reach more than 38% of the country.
Nexstar made a filing on its own behalf to counter DIRECTV’s June complaint, and now DIRECTV has responded. In its new letter to the FCC, DIRECTV attempts to invalidate Nexstar’s counterclaims and says that an investigation into alleged unlawful practices is clearly warranted.
“I remain confident that the slightest bit of factual investigation or discovery will reveal the truth about Nexstar’s control of Mission and White Knight and their stations,” wrote DIRECTV counsel Michael Nilsson in the letter. “I urge the Commission to investigate this matter thoroughly.”
Nexstar and DIRECTV are also clashing outside of court, as the two sides can't agree on a new retransmission contract. DIRECTV alleges Nexstar is asking for double the amount it received in its last carriage deal to continue airing local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC for DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM customers. Nexstar says it offered DIRECTV a four-month extension of the old deal that was flatly rejected, and as a result, users have been without some local channels in more than 100 markets since early July.
A similar schism over retransmission arose between Nexstar and Hawaiian Telecom, a provider that services the Hawaiian islands in July. But that dispute was resolved within a couple of weeks, though it should be noted Nexstar would not sign that deal unless Hawaiian Telecom withdrew its own complaint to the FCC.
The dogged pursuit of higher retransmission fees by Nexstar could be a sign of things to come from other station owners. A Wells Fargo analyst recently predicted pay TV would lose more than 8% of its customers in each of the next two years, and that companies like Nexstar that get most of their revenues from affiliate stations are most exposed to revenue losses that follow cord cutting. Companies like DIRECTV may not like such practices, but they may be more common as channel owners become increasingly desperate to stay on the air.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”