WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Nexstar Media Group’s appeal seeking to end DirecTV’s antitrust lawsuit over alleged coordination of television retransmission fees.
The October 5 order leaves intact a Second Circuit ruling that revived DirecTV’s case in federal court in New York City. The Supreme Court docket records the petition in Nexstar Media Group, Inc., et al. v. DirecTV, LLC, No. 25-1243, as denied.
DirecTV alleges that Nexstar and two station owners secretly coordinated demands for artificially high fees to carry certain local television stations. Nexstar disputes the allegations and argued that DirecTV could not pursue the price-fixing claim because it refused to pay the challenged prices.
A trial judge initially dismissed the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated it in December, finding that DirecTV could pursue alleged lost profits connected to station blackouts and subscriber cancellations.
The Supreme Court’s denial does not establish that Nexstar or the other defendants violated antitrust law. It means the litigation may proceed under the appellate ruling. Reuters reported that the challenged blackouts affected approximately one million DirecTV subscribers.
Why it matters
Nexstar owns or operates hundreds of local television stations. The case could affect how courts evaluate alleged coordination among station owners during retransmission negotiations and what losses a distributor may pursue when it refuses disputed rates rather than paying them.
What remains unresolved
DirecTV’s allegations remain unproven. No court has determined that Nexstar or the other defendants violated antitrust law, and the next district-court schedule has not been announced.
Sources: U.S. Supreme Court docket, No. 25-1243; Reuters, October 5, 2026.