CBS Reaches Settlement With Advertisers Who Allege Advertisement Price Fixing

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TV Ad Price Fixing Settlement Overview:

• Who: CBS has reached a settlement with advertisers who filed class action lawsuits against the company and other television networks that were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation.
• Why: The advertisers claimed CBS and other companies like Tribune Media, Sinclair, and more conspired with each other to artificially inflate advertising prices.
• Where: The multidistrict litigation was being heard in federal court in Illinois.

CBS has reached a settlement with advertisers who accused the media giant of conspiring with other television networks to fix advertising prices in a sprawling multidistrict litigation.

Few details are known about the settlement, which was tacked on as the last sentence of a status report document submitted to U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, Law360 reports.

The CBS settlement follows a wave of antitrust class action lawsuits brought against television giants after a failed merger between Tribune Media and Sinclair. The failed merger led to antitrust lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice against Sinclair, Tribune, and another four other media companies, which the department said had been involved in anti-competitive conduct. That conduct included sharing revenue and sales information for different media markets, the DOJ said, allowing the companies to set prices for advertisements based on the shared information.

CBS was named in the advertisers along with Tribune Media, Sinclair, Hearst, Gray Television, and others, Law360 reports.

According to the class action lawsuits, that were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in 2018, the companies named managed to increase advertising revenue during the class period despite advertising revenues declining overall.

Gray TV reached a settlement with the advertisers in November ending its part in the multidistrict litigation. Despite CBS, Fox, and Sinclair’s efforts to get out of the lawsuit, Judge Kendall rejected their arguments paving the way for either trial or settlement.

Tell us what you think about the television companies allegedly conspiring to increase advertising revenues in the comments section!

The advertisers are represented by Hausfeld LLP.

The media companies are represented by Eimer Stahl LLP, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, Mcafee & Taft, Cooley LLP and Honigman LLP.

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