DirecTV Says Broadcasters' Retrans Complaint Baseless

Seven commonly controlled broadcasters' attempts to get the FCC involved in stuck contract negotiations with DirecTV "turn the good-faith standard on its head," said the DBS provider Wednesday in a filing posted in docket 12-1. Blackhawk Broadcasting, Bristlecone Broadcasting, Broadcasting Licenses Limited Partnership, Eagle Creek Broadcasting of Laredo, Mountain Licenses, Northwest Broadcasting and Stainless Broadcasting filed a complaint with the FCC last month. They asked the FCC to step into the retransmission consent negotiations, alleging DirecTV wasn't negotiating in good faith and asking the agency to force it to show numbers to back up its estimations of the market value of the group's signals (see 1506120021). The rates Northwest demanded would make it "by far the highest-paid broadcaster that DirecTV carries anywhere," and disclosing what it pays others would violate agreements with those broadcasters, said the satellite company. Having failed to show any kind of bad-faith negotiations, Northwest has no case to make for asking the FCC to open DirecTV's rate data to it, the company said. "If ever there might be an occasion to do so, surely this is not it."