WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued an order proposing fines totaling $720,000 in opposition to Nexstar for violations in the way it negotiated a 2023 retransmission consent settlement with Hawaiian Telcom Services Company.In a press release to TV Tech, a Nexstar spokesperson mentioned: “Nexstar believes the proposed forfeiture is unwarranted, extreme, and in violation of the regulation and we are going to problem the FCC’s motion.”The fines stem from a grievance filed by Hawaiian Telcom on July 5, 2023 in opposition to Nexstar alleging good religion violations throughout 2023 negotiations to resume a 2020 retransmission consent settlement with six Nexstar stations in Hawaii. The stations have been faraway from the telco on the finish of June 2023 after being unable to barter a brand new deal. The events finally executed a renewal settlement on July 20, 2023“Based on our evaluate of the file, we discover that: “Hawaiian Telcom has failed to fulfill its burden of proving that Nexstar breached its responsibility to barter retransmission consent in good religion (underneath the per se requirements or the totality of the circumstances take a look at) by refusing to increase the events’ 2020 settlement till the events reached both a brand new settlement or an deadlock,” the FCC’s order mentioned. But the order discovered that “Hawaiian Telcom has met its burden of proving that Nexstar, based mostly on the totality of the circumstances, breached its responsibility to barter in good religion by proposing phrases for renewal of the events’ settlement that sought to foreclose Hawaiian Telcom from submitting complaints with the Commission. We, subsequently, deny the Complaint with respect to Count I, and grant the Complaint with respect to Count II to the extent mentioned herein.” The FCC is proposing a $120,000 forfeiture from Nexstar for every of the six Nexstar-owned stations: KHON-TV (Fox, CW, GRIT and Rewind TV) and KHII (MyNetwork TV), and their satellite tv for pc stations (KHAW-TV, KGMV, KGMD-TV and KAII-TV).Nexstar now has 30 days to pay the fines or file supplies with the FCC to get the quantities decreased.
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/fcc-nexstar-fined-720k-for-retrans-violations
