Overview
- California said Thursday that Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont joined its antitrust suit, creating a 13-state, bipartisan coalition.
- A federal judge on April 17 issued a preliminary injunction that bars Nexstar from integrating Tegna and requires Tegna to keep operating as a separate competitor.
- The court consolidated the states’ case with a related DIRECTV lawsuit that argues the deal would raise the fees pay‑TV providers pay to carry local stations.
- Regulators at the FCC and the Justice Department approved the transaction and the companies closed on March 19, and Nexstar is appealing the injunction to the Ninth Circuit with its opening brief due May 20.
- Plaintiffs say the $6.2 billion deal would reach about 80% of U.S. TV households, drive up consumer bills through higher carriage fees and newsroom consolidation, and they cite recent journalist firings as warning signs, while Nexstar disputes this and has struck a market‑level news commitment with Ohio’s attorney general that would take effect only if it prevails.