Judge blocks Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna until antitrust suit resolved

A federal judge has blocked a $6.2 billion merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento, California, made the ruling late Friday afternoon, finding that eight attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their legal bid to stop the merger.

The deal, announced last year and approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” national networks: ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

Nunley had already issued an emergency order blocking the deal for three weeks. On April 7, he heard arguments over whether that block should be extended until a lawsuit brought by attorneys general in eight states and DirecTV is resolved.

The attorneys general, all Democrats, and DirecTV contend the merger will lead to higher prices for consumers, stifle local journalism and that the deal runs afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.

“Consolidating hundreds of local TV stations under one corporate owner would mean higher prices and lower quality programming for consumers,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement following the ruling. “Nexstar’s merger with Tegna illegally eliminates competition, and today we won a critical victory in our effort to enforce the law and stop this merger from moving forward.”

Nexstar’s attorneys told the court the deal has already been reviewed and cleared by the FCC and the Justice Department. They said the FCC order commits the company to expand local journalism and programming, not shrink it.

In a statement, Nexstar said it will appeal Friday’s ruling.

“This transaction closed more than four weeks ago following receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice,” Nexstar said. “Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps consistent with the Court order that has been in effect.”

The merger needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations one company can own. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in March that the company had agreed to divest itself of six stations.

In his emergency temporary restraining order, the judge noted that the merger would make Nexstar the owner of two or even three of the “Big Four” local affiliates in 31 local television markets. Once that occurs, Nunley wrote, multichannel video programming distributors such as DirecTV would have to comply with Nexstar’s demands for higher broadcast fees or risk leaving subscribers potentially unable to watch things like Sunday NFL football games.