8 states file emergency order to block Nexstar-Tegna merger after FCC approval
California and seven other states filed an emergency petition Friday to stop the merger of broadcasters Nexstar and Tegna, which would create the nation’s largest home television company.
Eight attorneys general filed for a temporary restraining order less than a day after the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department signed a $6.2 billion settlement.
Nexstar and Tegna did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The states – California, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, New York, North Carolina, Connecticut and Virginia – argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday night that the merger violates antitrust laws and warned of higher prices for consumers.
“By approving the disastrous Nexstar/Tegna broadcast merger, the Trump Administration has once again put corporate interests ahead of the interests of everyday Americans — not on our watch,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
“This merger is illegal, plain and simple, in violation of federal antitrust laws that protect consumers. Nexstar/Tegna is not a done deal. I will not let these corporate behemoths get together without a fight,” added Bonta.
Nexstar announced Thursday night that it received approval from FCC regulators and the Department of Justice. The FCC has not publicly announced the news, and the Justice Department has not responded to requests for comment.
In a press release, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency has repealed a federal rule that prevents a single company from owning TV stations reaching more than 39% of American households. The combined assets of Nexstar and Tegna would cover at least 60%.
“Repealing that rule here is consistent with the FCC’s long-standing authority and doing so advances the fundamental purpose of the FCC’s media rules by promoting competition, space, and diversity,” Carr said in a statement.
Anna M. Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, criticized the agency’s decision to sign off on the Nexstar-Tegna deal, criticizing what she described as a lack of transparency about the approval process.
“The FCC has once again chosen regulatory coverage over public accountability,” Gomez said in a statement. “This merger was approved behind closed doors without an open process, there is no full vote of the Commission, and there is no transparency for the consumers and communities that will bear the consequences.”
President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the deal last month. “We need more competition against the ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” the president wrote on social media. “MAKE THAT AGREEMENT!”
The country’s national TV operators are under pressure as they compete for viewers and advertising revenue in a market increasingly dominated by digital players such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok.
But federal attorneys believe the merger “would put more broadcast programs in the hands of a few people, reduce local jobs, increase cable bills, and have a significant impact on the delivery of news and other media content to the American people.”
Bonta said two California media markets would be particularly affected by the Nexstar-Tegna merger. In the Sacramento market, the combined entity will own the local Fox and ABC stations; in the San Diego area, will own the Fox and CBS channels.
Nexstar operates 201 stations in 116 television markets while Tegna operates 64 full power broadcast television stations, an AM radio station and an FM radio station. Carr said Nexstar has agreed to lay off “many stations.”
In recent months, state attorneys general have committed to other issues in the connection of antitrust and the media industry.
More than two dozen Republican and Democratic state attorneys general have filed for a hearing in an antitrust lawsuit that seeks to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Live Nation eventually settled with the Department of Justice.
Bonta’s office is also investigating Paramount Skydance’s deal to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, a merger that would bring together historic Hollywood movie studios and potentially put CNN under the same corporate roof as CBS News.
