TV Broadcasters Fail To Compel Production From Ad Agencies And Other Plaintiffs Regarding Antitrust Standing And Market Definition
02/28/2023
On February 9, 2023, Judge Virginia Kendall of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied a motion to compel discovery in a long-running dispute between major broadcasters and ad buyers who allege that the broadcasters conspired to fix the prices of local TV ads. In re Local TV Advertising Antitrust Litigation, No. 18-6785 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 9, 2023). In their discovery motion, defendant broadcasters had sought to compel production of material that the broadcasters claimed was necessary to challenge both the antitrust standing of two advertising agency plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ proposed definition of the relevant antitrust market. Denying the motion to compel, the Court ruled that the information sought by the broadcasters was not sufficiently relevant to either issue.