As stated by the suit filed today in federal court in Boston, the move contravenes the provisions of the deal of Comcast with its affiliates, it breaks state and national antitrust laws. If permitted to carry on with its strategy, Comcast will supposedly have the ability to utilize its “already dominant position” in Greater Boston to charge advertisers more.

“As Comcast has acknowledged, the strategy is driven by its own urge to leverage its cable authority in Boston, and makes no sense based entirely on its program interests in this area,” WHDH said.
By taking NBC scheduling off WHDH, Comcast will deprive millions of local audience — especially in communities using a sizable portion of minorities, including Roxbury and Fall River — of free access to scheduling, possibly driving them to purchase cable since Comcast’s sign is not going to reach them from New Hampshire, based on WHDH.
WHDH said it’d attempted for years to revive its affiliate deal with Comcast, with the media giant supposedly swearing over and over that it’d discuss an extension “when the time was perfect.” Comcast, however, covertly developed the strategy to establish its own network, the suit said.
WHDH did not hold back on criticizing NECN in the suit, calling it a “network with comparatively low ratings and a poor presence in the Boston news marketplace.”