California, New York and six other states filed a lawsuit late Wednesday to block television station owner Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of rival company Tegna, arguing the tie-up would violate federal antitrust laws.
“When broadcast media is owned by a handful of companies, we get fewer voices, less competition, and communities lose a critical check on the power that local journalism can provide,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release.
In filing the lawsuit, 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 union filing.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has said he supports the proposed deal. “Let’s do it,” 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 US households. The combined component reaches about 60% of US 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 motions for a mistrial in a federal antitrust case aimed at breaking up LiveNation and Ticketmaster. (Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, eventually settled with the Justice Department.)
Bonta’s office is investigating Paramount Skydance’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which would unite two historic Hollywood movie studios and put CNN under the same corporate roof as CBS News.
The lawsuit over the Nexstar-Tegna deal was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. Clayton argues that the deal violates Section 7 of the Antitrust Act, which bars acquisitions that “substantially lessen competition.”
Bonta’s office argued that the merger would reduce healthy competition in the Sacramento and San Diego media markets, while James’ office expressed concern about the effects of consolidation in the Buffalo media market.
Nexstar oversees more than 200 owned and partnered centers in 116 markets nationwide. The company’s assets also include broadcast network The CW and cable news channel NewsNation. Tegna has 64 stations in 51 markets.
“This illegal merger threatens local news, and by combining hundreds of TV stations under a single owner, could raise costs for consumers. I am suing to stop Nexstar’s illegal merger with Tegna to lower cable bills and ensure New Yorkers can access independent local news options,” James said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month plans in California and New York to challenge the Nexstar-Tegna deal.
