Hawaiian Telcom said today it has filed a Federal Communications Commission complaint against Nexstar Media Inc. regarding a failure to extend its retransmission consent agreement during active negotiations, which resulted in five broadcast channels and one cable network going dark and being unavailable for local customers.

The six channels are KHON2 (FOX) , KHII (MyNetwork), CW, GRIT, Rewind TV and NewsNation. Nexstar is the largest broadcaster in the United States and parent company of those six stations.

Nexstar’s proposed contract asks for a 70% increase on the broadcast channels over today’s rate during the contract term. In the last five years, Nexstar’s rates have increased nearly five times more than the rate of inflation in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Telcom said it continues to negotiate with Nexstar to maintain reasonable rate increases and, ultimately, keep customer costs manageable. However, when the prior agreement expired on June 30, even though both parties were actively negotiating, Hawaiian Telcom said Nexstar refused to provide an adequate extension that would allow both parties sufficient time to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement.

“Nexstar is using its market power to unjustifiably raise prices far beyond what is reasonable,” said Filifotu Vaai, vice president of consumer products and sales at Hawaiian Telcom. “Individuals and families in Hawai‘i cannot absorb these kinds of cost increases and we will continue to fight for fair and reasonable prices on behalf of our customers.”

Nexstar’s stations will remain unavailable for Hawaiian Telcom customers until a new agreement is reached or the agreement is extended. Hawaiian Telcom customers can learn more and provide feedback at hawaiiantel.com/tvupdates.