Comcast wants the FCC to issue a ruling that Nexstar should actually be attributed ownership of NYC station WPIX, which would make it in violation of the 39% cap on broadcast national audience reach. The cable operator claims Nexstar’s divestiture of the station to meet FCC requirements in its acquisition of Tribune was a “sham.”
In 2019, Nexstar agreed to divest WPIX as well as WSFL in Miami and KASW in Phoenix in order to stay under the 39% ownership cap following its $4.1 billion acquisition of Tribune. The deal, which made Nexstar the nation’s largest local broadcast station group, raised a number of red flags within the industry. NCTA and DISH asked the FCC at the time to prohibit sharing arrangements between Nexstar and any of the divestiture stations, but the Commission said the issue was moot because Nexstar said it “will not be providing ongoing services under sharing agreements … to any of the stations that it is divesting.”
