Nexstar is the latest broadcaster to demand unreasonable price increases during a retransmission negotiation with Verizon – removing customers’ favorite TV channels from their lineup.

Verizon subscribers in the Washington, D.C. area, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and New York are facing missing channels after Nexstar pulled its signal in these major markets.

Nexstar is using its size and massive channel holdings to force providers like Verizon – and, therefore, consumers – to pay higher fees by threatening to remove hundreds of local channels in a half-dozen major markets unless their demands are met.

For nearly two decades, broadcasters like Nexstar have been charging cable and satellite providers – and their customers – unreasonably high fees to access local stations. Broadcasters often remove their channels from consumers until TV providers agree to pay more – even though the same channels that are available free over the air. Over the last decade, consumers across the nation have faced more than 1,500 broadcast TV blackouts; all while broadcasters have collected billions in retransmission fees.

It’s time for our leaders at the FCC and in Congress to protect consumers by holding them – and other broadcasters who frequently use this tactic – accountable.