Mission Broadcasting

Conditions put on the proposed sale of WADL Detroit to Mission Broadcasting have created a potential drama in the Motor City. Kevin Adell, CEO of Adell Broadcasting, owner of WADL, said he expects the $75 million deal to go through, but said that Mission called the conditions “problematic.” Mission’s bid is being financed by Nexstar Media Group, which wants WADL to become the market’s CW affiliate after Sept. 1, when the CW’s deal with WMYD, owned by E.W. Scripps, expires. Scripps and Nexstar have said the affiliation deal won’t be renewed.

DirecTV has confirmed that it will appeal a federal judge in New York’s decision to throw out its antitrust lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group. The pay TV company has accused Nexstar of conspiring to fix broadcast retransmission license fees through management services agreements with smaller station groups Mission Broadcasting and White Knight.

The FCC has hit Nexstar Media Group and its business partner Mission Broadcasting with a $1.2 million fine and an order to sell WPIX New York or other stations to come into compliance with longstanding station ownership limits. The commission on Thursday issued a 42-page decision in its probe of Nexstar’s ties to Mission Broadcasting and whether their business agreement violated the FCC’s reach limit on TV station ownership.

Mission Broadcasting and Dish Network said the reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a year-long blackout that affected 27 TV stations in 25 markets. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Mission continues to be blacked out with DirecTV.

WPIX New York owner Mission Broadcasting is being fined $150,000 by the FCC over a contract dispute with cable giant Comcast that caused the cable TV company to file a complaint with the agency in 2022. TV stations and cable operators have a legal duty to negotiate retransmission consent carriage deals in good faith. But the FCC found that Mission violated that standard by requiring contract terms with Comcast that would have prevented either side from filing a complaint with the FCC.

The purchase of the MNT affiliate from Adell Broadcasting gives Mission its 30^th station and its second in Michigan.

Mission and White Knight stations, which are largely managed by Nexstar, have been blacked out on DirecTV platforms since October.

Dish Network subscribers have lost satellite access to stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting because of a fee dispute. About 850,000 Dish households are affected. Mission has about 30 stations, including WPIX New York in the Dish footprint. Two White Knight stations are involved.

In the midst of a retransmission fee dispute with DirecTV, Mission Broadcasting has prepared letters for its station general managers to send to government officials blaming an intractable satellite company for the blackout impacting their constituents.

DirecTV is asking the 27 stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting that are blacked out to its subscribers because of a retransmission consent fee dispute to return their signals through election day. The satellite company is offering to pay the stations whatever new rate winds up being negotiated retroactively to the return of the signals.

Mission Broadcasting, which operates 25 network affiliates spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, New York and a dozen other states, has been pulled from DirecTV and U-verse pay TV platforms. The skirmish marks another pay TV blackout that involves Nexstar Media Group, which manages the Mission stations.

The broadcast executive with nearly 30 years of leadership experience will oversee Nexstar’s KVEO, valleycentral.com and Mission Broadcasting’s KGBT.

Comcast wants the FCC to issue a ruling that Nexstar should be attributed ownership of WPIX New York , which would make it in violation of the commission’s 39% cap on broadcast national audience reach. The cable operator claims Nexstar’s divestiture of the station to meet FCC requirements in its acquisition of Tribune was a “sham.”

Mission intends to use the net proceeds from the new loan to pay down borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility, pay shared service fees to Nexstar and for general corporate purposes.

Scripps purchased WPIX as part of its acquisition of eight television stations in seven markets from Nexstar. Those stations were being divested in connection with Nexstar Media Group’s acquisition of Tribune Media in September 2019. Scripps granted Nexstar the option to buy back WPIX. The option expired at the end of 2021. Nexstar assigned its option to Mission Broadcasting, and Mission exercised the option.

Mission Broadcasting promotes 21-year veteran Taunya Tourville-Bennett to lead its newly acquired CW-MNT duopoly in Albuquerque, N.M.

The FCC’s Media Bureau has approved the sale of KLJB Davenport, Iowa; KMSS Shreveport, La.; and KPEJ Odessa, Texas, from Marshall Broadcasting to Mission Broadcasting, saying the sale — out of bankruptcy — is in the public interest.

Nexstar has transferred its option to purchase Scripps’ New York CW affiliate WPIX to Mission Broadcasting and Mission has exercised its option to purchase the station for $75 million plus accrued interest, to be calculated on the period between the Sept. 19, 2019, purchase date of WPIX by Scripps and the option sale closing date.

Mission Broadcasting has named Stephen Daniloff corporate director of sales. He most recently was VP-GM of Nexstar’s WBRE, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. At Mission, he will manage an office in Solon, Ohio, and report to Dennis Thatcher, Mission’s president.

Mission Broadcasting said its stations in 18 markets are no longer being carried by Dish Network because of a retransmission consent dispute. The stations were removed by Dish without warning Friday night, Mission said. The broadcaster said it had offered to extend its current agreement so viewers wouldn’t miss the beginning of the NFL playoff but Dish turned it down. Dish said the opposite happened, blaming Mission for the signals being pulled.