Minority Television Project, Inc. v. Dish Network L.L.C.

Background

Minority Television Project, Inc. alleged that it operates KMTP-TV, an educational noncommercial television station. Dish Network L.L.C. provides satellite television service. Minority alleged that Dish had carried KMTP-TV’s signal before 2018 but stopped carrying it for the three-year carriage cycle beginning January 1, 2018.

Minority alleged that, for the cycle beginning January 1, 2021, it timely requested mandatory carriage under Federal Communications Commission regulations. It alleged that Dish nevertheless failed to carry KMTP-TV’s signal. Minority brought one claim under 47 U.S.C. § 401, which allows an injured party to ask a federal district court to enforce a Federal Communications Commission order when someone fails to obey it.

Prior Proceedings and Parties’ Arguments

The court had previously dismissed Minority’s original complaint because Minority had not alleged facts showing that Dish was obligated to carry KMTP-TV’s signal. In particular, the court identified the regulation requiring a station to send its carriage-election notice to the email address provided by the satellite carrier and copy ElectionNotices@FCC.gov.

In the First Amended Complaint, Minority alleged that it was not required to comply with that email-notice requirement. Minority argued that it only needed to place its carriage request in its online public file because KMTP-TV was a noncommercial station. Dish argued that the email-notice requirement applied to Minority.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that federal law requires a satellite carrier to carry, upon request, the signals of television broadcast stations located within the stations’ local markets. The Federal Communications Commission adopted regulations to ensure compliance with that obligation and amended them in 2019.

The amended rules allow broadcasters to post carriage elections online and require stations to send notices to satellite carriers when changing their carriage-election status. The relevant regulation, 47 C.F.R. § 76.66(d)(1)(iii), refers to “[a] station” and does not limit the email-notice requirement to commercial stations. The court concluded that the term includes both commercial and noncommercial stations.

The court also relied on the Federal Communications Commission’s explanation that noncommercial educational stations must email new carriage requests when they were not being carried by an existing satellite provider during the prior three-year cycle. Because Minority acknowledged that Dish had not carried KMTP-TV after December 31, 2017, the court concluded that Minority was not exempt from the email-notice requirement.

Minority alleged that it did not comply with that requirement. The court therefore found the First Amended Complaint subject to dismissal. In light of that conclusion, the court did not consider Dish’s alternative argument that the regulation did not constitute an “order” enforceable under 47 U.S.C. § 401. The court also stated that Minority’s reliance on dicta in an Federal Communications Commission order identified in the complaint did not change the result.

Disposition

Judge Maxine M. Chesney granted Dish’s motion to dismiss and dismissed the First Amended Complaint without further leave to amend. The opinion does not state that the dismissal was with or without prejudice.