Nexstar Media Inc. v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
- John Koeltl
- 1:21-cv-06860
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Nexstar Media v. Comcast, Judge Koeltl granted Nexstar’s application to permanently seal commercially sensitive filings and agreement materials.
Nexstar Media Inc., Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, Mission Broadcasting, Inc., and the public’s access to the specified court filings.
What happened
Nexstar Media Inc. v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC concerns Nexstar’s request to permanently seal confidential material in Mission Broadcasting, Inc.’s motion to dismiss and a supporting declaration exhibit. The materials referred to or included a retransmission consent agreement between Nexstar and Comcast.
Nexstar argued that the agreement contained sensitive pricing and other terms, and that disclosure could harm both companies competitively. Nexstar also pointed to earlier orders sealing the agreement, related correspondence, and references to those materials in other filings.
The court granted the application to permanently seal the unredacted versions of the motion and declaration exhibit. Judge John G. Koeltl entered the order.
The detailed version
- Nexstar Media Inc. v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC · No. 1:21-cv-06860
- John Koeltl
- July 12, 2022
Background
Nexstar Media Inc. sued Comcast Cable Communications, LLC. In the case, Mission Broadcasting, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss Comcast’s third-party complaint and a supporting declaration with an exhibit. Some material in those filings had been temporarily sealed.
Nexstar asked the court to permanently seal the unredacted versions of Mission’s motion and the exhibit to the declaration. The motion discussed correspondence between Nexstar and Comcast concerning a commercially sensitive retransmission consent agreement, and the exhibit attached the agreement itself.
Arguments
Nexstar stated that the agreement contained pricing rates and other terms whose disclosure could disadvantage the parties in negotiations with competitors and cable companies. Nexstar also noted that the court had previously permanently sealed the agreement, related correspondence, and references to those materials in other filings.
Ruling
The court granted Nexstar’s application to permanently seal the unredacted versions of the motion and the declaration exhibit. Judge John G. Koeltl entered the order. This was a procedural ruling about public access to court filings; the text does not decide the underlying claims or defenses in the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.