US Supreme Court rejects Nexstar bid to avoid DirecTV lawsuit over fees
NXST•The Supreme Court declined to hear Nexstar’s appeal seeking to block DirecTV’s antitrust lawsuit over allegedly inflated content-distribution fees, allowing the case to proceed.
1. Appeal rejected
The justices declined to hear Nexstar Media Group’s appeal of a lower court ruling that reinstated DirecTV’s antitrust lawsuit in federal court in New York City.
2. Dispute over fees
DirecTV alleged that Nexstar and two other station owners secretly worked together to demand artificially high fees for rebroadcast rights. DirecTV refused to pay, and some stations went dark for a million subscribers; the company says it lost revenue and thousands of customers canceled. Nexstar argued that DirecTV could not sue over allegedly inflated prices because it did not pay them.
