Legal battle to halt Nexstar-Tegna TV station merger expands with five new states

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has enlisted caller allies successful his ineligible conflict to unravel Nexstar Media Group’s takeover of rival tv presumption radical Tegna Inc.

Late Thursday, Bonta announced that 5 further states person joined his conjugation that is suing to artifact the $6.2-billion merger. With the further plaintiffs, the radical of apical authorities instrumentality enforcement officers has grown to 13 — and the run present is simply a bipartisan effort.

“Antitrust enforcement is not governmental — it’s astir protecting moving families and helping guarantee the benefits of a vibrant system are for everyone, not conscionable well-connected corporations,” Bonta said successful a statement. “We invited our sister states into the fray and look guardant to warring alongside them.”

The caller states are Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont. They person joined existing the plaintiffs that correspond the radical of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

Nexstar owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 successful Los Angeles.

U.S. District Court Judge Troy Nunley 2 weeks agone granted a petition by the attorneys wide to contented a preliminary injunction halting the merger arsenic the ineligible lawsuit proceeds. The projected merger — which Nexstar rushed to implicit contempt absorption from the states — would make the nation’s largest broadcast presumption radical with 265 tv stations, up from 164 that Nexstar presently controls.

In dozens of markets, including San Diego and Sacramento, Nexstar would ain aggregate large TV web affiliates. That duplication has raised concerns astir unit consolidations and wide newsroom layoffs.

“State attorneys wide nationwide recognize conscionable however important robust antitrust enforcement is to American beingness — and what a rotten woody this is for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our section news,” Bonta said.

El Segundo-based DirecTV separately filed a suit to artifact the deal, saying the Nexstar-Tegna consolidation would harm their concern by forcing DirecTV to wage importantly higher fees for the rights to transportation their stations arsenic portion of its programming lineup.

A Nexstar typical was not instantly disposable for comment.

Nexstar contends the woody would fortify TV presumption economics, allowing stations to bolster their quality gathering and grow the fig of newscasts. But DirecTV countered that successful markets wherever Nexstar owns 2 stations, it relies connected conscionable 1 newsroom to programme some channels.

Nexstar’s projected acquisition of Tegna would springiness the Irving, Texas-based Nexstar stations successful 44 states covering 80% of the U.S. population.

The national justice ruled determination was capable merit successful the antitrust arguments brought by Bonta and the others to intermission Nexstar’s takeover of Tegna until a proceedings tin beryllium held to determine whether the merger is illegal.

“Nexstar indispensable licence Tegna to proceed operating arsenic a abstracted and distinct, independently managed concern portion from Nexstar,” Nunley wrote successful his 52-page bid connected April 17. “And Nexstar indispensable enactment measures successful spot to support Tegna arsenic an ongoing, economically viable, and progressive competitor.”