Nexstar Media Group declared Thursday that its $6.2 billion takeover of rival TV station firm Tegna had closed — however now eight state attorneys general seeking to block the merger have stepped up their authorized battle.
On Friday, the eight states filed a movement for a short lived restraining order in California federal courtroom that might enjoin Nexstar from “integrating or commingling the property and operations it has acquired from what was, yesterday, a considerable competitor, Tegna” and forcing Nexstar to “maintain separate the acquired Tegna property pending additional proceedings.”
The deal would increase Nexstar, already the most important TV station group within the U.S., with Tegna’s stations — leading to an organization with 259 full-power stations (after divesting six), affiliated with networks together with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. The deal will give the mixed firm attain throughout 80% of U.S. TV households; that violates the FCC’s possession cap on any single firm proudly owning stations that attain greater than 39% of the U.S., however the FCC has granted a waiver of that rule. The Justice Division additionally accepted the Nexstar-Tegna deal.
Late on Wednesday, the states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia) had filed go well with within the U.S. District Court docket for the Japanese District of California to cease the Nexstar-Tegna merger, claiming it violates antitrust regulation.
The mix of the No. 1 and No. 3 largest TV station operations would “put extra broadcast programming within the fingers of fewer folks, minimize native jobs, improve cable payments, and considerably influence the supply of stories and different media content material to People nationwide,” in response to the workplace of California Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta. “Alarmingly, experiences have already detailed Nexstar’s firing of longstanding journalists [at local TV stations] in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.”
“The federal authorities has an obligation to guard our financial system, customers’ wallets, and aggressive markets wherein companies and employees can thrive,” Bonta stated in an announcement issued Friday. “With its approval of the disastrous Nexstar/Tegna broadcasting merger, the Trump administration has as soon as once more put company pursuits forward of the pursuits of on a regular basis People — not on our watch. At the moment, alongside a coalition of attorneys common, I’ve filed an emergency movement asking the courtroom to cease this merger. This merger is illegitimate, plain and easy, operating opposite to federal antitrust legal guidelines that shield customers. Nexstar/Tegna will not be a completed deal. I cannot let these company behemoths merge with no battle.”
Reps for Nexstar and Tegna didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Individually, DirecTV sued Nexstar and Tegna in the same court on March 18, additionally searching for to dam the deal. DirecTV stated a mixed Nexstar-Tegna will “irreparably drive up client prices, cut back native competitors, shutter native newsrooms, and improve each the frequency and period of blackouts of key native groups and community programming.” A DirecTV stated Friday that its lawsuit will proceed.
Of their movement Friday, the states stated a short lived restraining order “is important to keep away from irreparable hurt to the general public curiosity and Plaintiff States’ potential to successfully implement the nation’s antitrust legal guidelines.”
On the time the eight states filed their lawsuit, Nexstar and Tegna “had not but obtained the mandatory federal regulatory approvals to shut the Transaction.”
Minutes after they filed go well with, in response to the states, they despatched legal professionals for Nexstar and Tegna a replica of the criticism and “requested Defendants to enter right into a Stipulated Timing Settlement below which Nexstar and Tegna would agree to not consummate the challenged Transaction till after a last judgment was issued on this case.”
Nonetheless, “Defendants did not even acknowledge Plaintiffs’ request,” the states’ movement says. “As an alternative, within the late afternoon yesterday, March 19, Nexstar closed its acquisition of Tegna, instantly following bulletins of regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Fee (‘FCC’) and the U.S. Division of Justice’s (‘U.S. DOJ’) choice to shut its investigation into the Transaction early.”
The choice by Nexstar and Tegna to shut their pact “regardless of a number of pending lawsuits, their non-responsiveness to counsel’s inquiries, and their rush to consummate the Transaction increase the troubling specter that Defendants could also be barreling ahead with this transaction to frustrate efficient judicial overview.”
The states’ lawsuit alleges a mixed Nexstar-Tegna would create a “broadcasting behemoth with management over an unprecedented share of broadcast tv content material, together with native information and sports activities, from the nation’s most-watched ‘Large 4’ stations (these affiliated with Fox, ABC, NBC or CBS).” Such an entity additionally would have “extra substantial energy to lift costs for cable, satellite tv for pc, and fiber-optic tv customers, and to manage and degrade the standard and number of broadcast tv content material.”
A replica of the state AGs’ movement for a short lived restraining order is at this link.
In November 2025, President Donald Trump stated he opposed a move by the FCC to raise or eliminate the 39% cap on native TV station house owners if the outcome can be an “enlargement of the pretend information networks,” citing ABC Information and NBC Information particularly.
However since then, Trump has publicly expressed assist for the Nexstar-Tegna merger. On Feb. 7, 2026, Trump stated in a publish on social media, “Get that deal completed!,” saying that Nexstar and Tegna must be allowed to merge to be able to “Knock out the Faux Information” from the “Faux Information Nationwide TV Networks.” Quickly afterward, FCC chairman Brendan Carr additionally responded on social media, writing, “Let’s get it completed.”
