California, New York and six other states filed a lawsuit late Wednesday seeking to block television station owner Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion takeover of rival company Tegna, arguing the tie-up violates federal antitrust laws.
“When broadcast media is owned by a handful of companies, we get fewer voices, less competition, and communities lose the critical check on power that local journalism delivers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release.
In filing the suit, Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James were joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut and Virginia.
Nexstar and Tegna did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the legal coalition’s filing.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has said he supports the proposed deal. “Let’s get it done,” Carr wrote in a Feb. 7 post on X.
But completing the merger would require changing a federal rule that bars a single company from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households. The combined entity would reach nearly 60% of U.S. households.
The FCC has not publicly announced whether it plans to hold a vote on changing the national ownership cap. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In recent months, state attorneys general have asserted themselves on other issues at the nexus of antitrust and the media industry.
More than two dozen Republican and Democratic state attorneys general filed a motion for a mistrial in a federal antitrust case that aimed to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. (Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, ultimately settled with the Justice Department.)
Bonta’s office is also investigating Paramount Skydance’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a merger that would unite two historic Hollywood movie studios and potentially put CNN under the same corporate roof as CBS News.
The lawsuit over the Nexstar-Tegna deal was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. It argues that the deal violates Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act, which bars acquisitions that would “substantially lessen competition.”
Bonta’s office has argued that the merger would reduce healthy competition in the Sacramento and San Diego media markets, while James’ office has said it is concerned about the effects of consolidation in the Buffalo media market.
Nexstar oversees more than 200 owned and partner stations in 116 markets across the country. The company’s assets also include the broadcast network The CW and the cable news channel NewsNation. Tegna has 64 stations across 51 markets.
“This illegal merger threatens local news and could raise fees for consumers by combining hundreds of TV stations under the same owner. I’m suing to stop Nexstar’s illegal merger with Tegna to keep cable bills down and ensure New Yorkers can access the independent local news options they count on,” James said in a statement.
Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner on FCC panel, reacted to the states’ suit in a post on X, saying in part that the agency’s review should be “transparent.”
“The FCC must not rubber-stamp this unlawful merger behind closed doors. This would unleash a new broadcast behemoth that could gut local news and lead to higher prices,” Gomez said. “Consumers deserve an open and transparent process, not a backroom deal. The full Commission must weigh in.”
California and New York’s plans to challenge the Nexstar-Tegna deal were first reported earlier this month by The Wall Street Journal.
