The Federal Communications Commission has signed off on broadcast station owner Nexstar’s $6.2 billion deal to acquire rival company Tegna, a merger that would create the largest operator of local television stations in the country.
In a news release Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency waived a rule barring a single company from owning TV stations that reach more than 39% of US households. A composite component comprises at least 60%.
“Abandoning that rule here is consistent with long-standing FCC officials and, in doing so, promotes the original intent of the FCC’s media rules by promoting competition, localism and diversity,” Carr said in a statement.
The FCC’s announcement came a day after a coalition of attorneys general from eight states, including California and New York, sued to block the merger, arguing the tie-up would violate federal antitrust law.
Nexstar has received regulatory approval from the Department of Justice, Nexstar Chief Executive Perry Sook said in a news release. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Sook said in a statement, adding that Nexstar will be a “stronger, more dynamic enterprise” after bringing the two companies together.
“We are grateful to President Trump, President Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and enabling this transaction to proceed,” Sook said.
Carr was appointed FCC chairman early in President Donald Trump’s second term. He previously served as one of the agency’s commissioners.
Anna M. is the only Democrat on the FCC. Gomez blasted the agency’s decision to sign the Nexstar-Tegna deal, criticizing what it characterized as a lack of transparency around the approval process.
“The FCC has once again chosen bureaucratic cover over public accountability,” Gomez said in a statement. “This merger was approved behind closed doors with no open process, no full commission vote, and no transparency for the consumers and communities that will be affected.”
In an August news release announcing the Nexstar-Tegna deal, Sook said the Trump administration’s deregulatory policies gave station owners a better shot at competing in a “fragmented and rapidly evolving market” for media brands.
“Initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration will give local broadcasters an opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field and compete more effectively with big tech and legacy big media companies,” Sook said at the time.
In a social media post on Thursday, Carr agreed to “certain concrete conditions” to the Nextstar deal, including “several station withdrawals, increased locality and affordability measures.” He did not give specific information about those plans.
When requests for federal approval were sent to the FCC in early December, Nexstar operated 201 stations in 116 television markets, while Tegna operated 64 full-power broadcast television stations, one AM radio station and one FM radio station.
Carr’s office previously approved a high-profile merger between Skydance Media and Paramount, the parent company of Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures and broadcast network CBS.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending acquisition of Paramount Skydance is being investigated by the Justice Department’s antitrust unit, not the FCC.
The FCC, an agency whose appointees serve five-year terms, regulates the broadcast airwaves and other major telecommunications platforms. The agency normally has five commissioners, but there are currently two vacancies.
