More State Attorneys General Join Antitrust Lawsuit Against Nexstar-Tegna Merger

Five new state attorneys general – some of them Republican – have joined an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the $6.2 billion merger of local TV station owners Nexstar and Tegna.

The transaction, which technically closed March 19 after the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice approved it, is a game-changer because it would create a giant entity whose stations would reach 80% of U.S. households. Federal law to this point has limited station reach by a single owner to 39% of households. DirecTV and eight state AGs sued to block the deal, and a federal judge backed the complaint, freezing the deal via a “stand-still provision” limiting integration efforts by the companies.

AGs in Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont were added to an amended complaint, according to California AG Rob Bonta.

Nexstar says it will appeal the case. CEO Perry Sook said last week he expects the appeal to play out over several months.

President Trump has expressed strong support for the merger, as has FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The FCC’s Media Bureau issued an order approving the deal, though it was never voted on by the full commission.

In a statement about the new states boarding the lawsuit, Bonta said their involvement makes the suit “a bipartisan effort.” He called the merger “illegal,” and said it will allow Nexstar and Tegna to “control and raise prices, fire journalists, and dominate the media landscape.” The combination, he added, is “a rotten deal … for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news.”

Nexstar hit back in its own statement, calling the AGs “misguided” and saying they are “strangling local journalism – the most trusted source of independent, fact-based news available to Americans. The AGs, none of whom has a track record of advocating for local media, would do well to understand the industry they purport to protect.”

The company said the plaintiffs “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.” Undoing the deal would bring about “the demise of your local broadcast station,” the statement concluded.

Nexstar also pointed to a settlement it reached Thursday with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The memorandum of understanding agreed to by the parties includes stipulations for local news programming and the management of WBNS-TV in Columbus and WKYC-TV in Cleveland, the two markets where the combined company would operate two stations.
 
“Journalistic independence is a cornerstone principle of our democracy,” Yost said. “I’m pleased that Nexstar has committed to upholding local news standards without going to court.”