"In reversing the Southern District of New York dismissal for lack of standing, a split three-judge circuit panel allowed the streaming and satellite TV company to proceed with its federal claims. Lost profits resulting from a reduction in output represent a cognizable antitrust injury, and DirecTV plausibly alleges that its lost profits flowed directly from the output-reducing effects of the alleged price-fixing conspiracy, U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Menashi wrote in an opinion joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin."
"The majority also said DirecTV is an efficient enforcer of antitrust laws because it was the direct target of the purported conspiracy between Nexstar and station owners Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting and it has a longstanding history of reaching agreements with the distributors. Things went awry, according to the 2023 lawsuit, when DirecTV refused to pay jacked up rates; Mission and White Knight withdrew their signals in October 2022, causing a blackout of their stations for nearly a million DirecTV subscribers."
The Second Circuit restored DirecTV's antitrust claims against Nexstar and two distributors, reversing a dismissal for lack of standing. The majority held that lost profits from reduced output are a cognizable antitrust injury and that DirecTV alleged its losses flowed from a price-fixing conspiracy. The court deemed DirecTV an efficient enforcer because it was an alleged direct target. The complaint alleges Mission and White Knight withdrew signals after DirecTV refused higher rates, blacking out stations for nearly one million subscribers in October 2022. A dissent argued the harm was indirect and speculative because DirecTV did not pay the alleged supracompetitive prices.
Read at www.amny.com
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