Comcast has asked a federal court to throw out the lawsuit WHDH brought against it after the Sunbeam-owned station found out it’s losing its NBC affiliation in 2017.
The Boston Business Journal reports Comcast says WHDH didn’t ask for an automatic renewal of its affiliation, even though it could have.
“‘(A) finite contractual affiliation is exactly what WHDH agreed to and now, in fairness, must live by,’ it said.”
WHDH’s assertions that Comcast misrepresented its intention to negotiate with the station over the renewal of its affiliate status fall flat because, even if they were true, such misrepresentations would not violate any law cited by the station, according to Comcast. Just because Comcast had already started upgrading NECN’s studio in 2014 does not prove it lied to WHDH about its plans to make that station the new NBC affiliate, it said.
WHDH fails to show how Comcast’s plan will hurt competition in the Boston media market, Comcast said. Since WHDH has said it intends to remain on air even if its lawsuit fails, Comcast’s creation of a new station will actually increase competition, not lessen it, the company said.