Comcast Seeks Dismissal of NBC Affiliation Suit
NBC is under no obligation to negotiate a renewal to WHDH Boston's expiring TV network affiliation agreement, and it has no facts to back up antitrust or injury to competition claims, Comcast said in a motion (in Pacer) to dismiss…
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filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston. The station sued Comcast last month, alleging Comcast was violating the terms of an agreement with NBC affiliates that came as part of Comcast's purchase of NBCUniversal (see 1603110031). But WHDH is a third-party beneficiary to that contract and its claims are based on sections "of which WHDH is explicitly not an intended beneficiary," and thus has no standing, Comcast said. The agreement also doesn't prevent NBC from switching from an independently owned affiliate to an owned-and-operated one, just as NBC plans to do in Boston after the WHDH affiliate agreement expires Jan. 1, Comcast said. The company also rejected WHDH allegations of breach of good faith and fair dealing, saying neither the affiliation agreement nor the Comcast/affiliates agreement includes obligations to continue past the expiration date. Comcast also said that even if it had been by early 2014 working on facility upgrades at regional news cable channel NECN in anticipation of the affiliation change, any indications by its executives to WHDH that it wanted to hold off on renewal talks until closer to the expiration date of the current agreement "does not establish the falsity of any of Comcast's alleged representations about WHDH's prospects for extending its affiliation." Counsel for WHDH didn't comment Wednesday.