then-owner Tribune Broadcasting) was up for renewal in August 2016, and there was a possibility that CBS (who, along with Time Warner, at the time had co-ownership of The CW) could transfer the CW affiliation to WSBK-TV (then-affiliated with MyNetworkTV) if WLVI was unable to renew. On January 7, 2016, Valari Staab, president of NBC Owned Television Stations, confirmed that NBC would cease its affiliation with WHDH effective January 1, 2017, and that it would launch its owned-and-operated NBC outlet NBC Boston that day. Staab did not outright say whether NBC programming would be carried by WNEU, but that NBCUniversal was evaluating options for over-the-air carriage of the new outlet. Prior to the announcement, Ansin told The Boston Globe that he was considering challenging the planned move of NBC from WHDH, arguing that the proposed move would be in violation of conditions imposed by the FCC upon Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, as the company agreed to maintain the over-the-air availability of NBC, and not use its cable holdings to influence affiliation deals. His position was supported by Senator Edward Markey; a representative of Markey stated that as a "long-time supporter of universal service and free, over-the-air local broadcasting," he planned to "closely scrutinize the impacts any deal could have on viewers in Massachusetts." On March 10, 2016, Sunbeam Television sued Comcast in the District Court for the District of Massachusetts, citing violations of antitrust law and the conditions which Comcast agreed to upon its purchase of NBC Universal. Sunbeam argued that because WNEU's over-the-air signal radius covers four million fewer residents than WHDH, over-the-air viewers in these areas would have to purchase pay television service in order to maintain access to NBC programming—which would benefit Comcast's cable business. Sunbeam also asserted that moving NBC to a company-owned station would "[enable] Comcast to increase its monopoly power in the Boston television market, and the resulting decrease in competition will harm consumers, advertisers and other broadcasters." On May 16, 2016, the court granted a request of Comcast to dismiss the lawsuit, Judge Richard Stearn stated the loss of over-the-air coverage "may be a matter of public concern, [but] it is not a concern that WHDH has standing to redress," and that "absent any actionable harm attributable to Comcast, it is simply an indurate consequence of doing business in a competitive and unsentimental marketplace." WHDH intended to appeal the dismissal, and filed