Legal battle to halt Nexstar-Tegna TV station merger expands with five new states
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California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has enlisted new allies in his legal battle to unravel Nexstar Media Group’s takeover of rival television station owner Tegna Inc.
Late Thursday, Bonta announced that five additional states have joined his coalition that is suing to block the $6.2-billion merger. With the additional plaintiffs, the group of top state law enforcement officers has grown to 13 — and the campaign now is a bipartisan effort.
“Antitrust enforcement is not political — it’s about protecting working families and helping ensure the benefits of a vibrant economy are for everyone, not just well-connected corporations,” Bonta said in a statement. “We welcome our sister states into the fray and look forward to fighting alongside them.”
The new states are Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont. They have joined existing the plaintiffs that represent the people of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
Nexstar owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley two weeks ago granted a request by the attorneys general to issue a preliminary injunction halting the merger as the legal case proceeds. The proposed merger — which Nexstar rushed to complete despite opposition from the states — would create the nation’s largest broadcast station group with 265 television stations, up from 164 that Nexstar currently controls.
Nexstar Media Group has closed its deal to buy Tegna, despite opposition from some state attorneys general.
In dozens of markets, including San Diego and Sacramento, Nexstar would own multiple major TV network affiliates. That duplication has raised concerns about staff consolidations and widespread newsroom layoffs.
“State attorneys general nationwide understand just how important robust antitrust enforcement is to American life — and what a rotten deal this is for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news,” Bonta said.
Nexstar contends the deal would strengthen TV station economics, which are increasingly challenged amid the rise of social media.
In a statement, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar said it has committed to bolster local newscasts in some markets it would serve — a provision contained in a deal the company struck this week with Ohio’s attorney general. The company said the other state attorneys general “would do well to understand the industry they purport to protect.”
“They should be far more wary of the real drivers of the decline of local news: the unchecked rise of Big Tech platforms, the spread of misinformation on social media, and the economic pressures that have already led to widespread newsroom closures,” Nexstar said.
Lawyers for TV station giant Nexstar, which owns KTLA, argued that last month’s mammoth merger with Tegna would not lessen competition.
Nexstar’s proposed purchase of Tegna would give Nexstar stations in 44 states covering 80% of the U.S. population.
“In today’s media landscape, multi-billion-dollar technology companies compete directly with local broadcasters while facing none of the same ownership, reach, or size constraints,” Nexstar said.
El Segundo-based DirecTV separately filed a lawsuit to block the deal, saying the consolidation would harm their business by giving Nexstar tremendous leverage that would lead to higher fees that DirecTV would have to pay for the rights to carry the stations as part of its programming lineup.
The federal judge ruled there was sufficient merit in the antitrust arguments brought by Bonta and the others to pause Nexstar’s takeover of Tegna until a trial can be held to decide whether the merger is illegal.
The move comes after Nexstar wins FCC approval and finalizes its $6.2-billion takeover
“Nexstar must permit Tegna to continue operating as a separate and distinct, independently managed business unit from Nexstar,” Nunley wrote in his 52-page order on April 17. “And Nexstar must put measures in place to maintain Tegna as an ongoing, economically viable, and active competitor.”
