Federal judge blocks Nexstar-Tegna TV station merger until antitrust lawsuit is settled

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge blocked a lawsuit $6.2 billion merger local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley issued his decision Friday afternoon, finding that the eight attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their legal bids to stop the merger.

Agreement, announced last year The deal, approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company with 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of which are local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” national networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC).

Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, had issued an emergency order blocking the deal for three weeks. On April 7, he heard arguments about a lawsuit filed by attorneys general in eight states and whether to extend the ban until DirecTV is resolved.

Attorneys general, all Democrats and DirecTV argue that the merger would lead to higher prices for consumers, stifle local journalism and that the deal would run afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.

Nexstar’s lawyers told the court that the deal had already been reviewed and approved by the FCC and the Department of Justice. They said the FCC order commits the company to expanding, not shrinking, local journalism and programming.

The merger required approval from the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules limiting the number of local stations a company could own. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in March that the company had agreed to separate itself from six stations.

In his emergency temporary restraining order, the judge stated that the merger would make Nexstar the owner of two or three of the “Big Four” local affiliates in 31 local television markets. Once that happens, multi-channel video programming distributors like DirecTV will have to comply with Nexstar’s demands for higher broadcast fees, Nunley wrote, or subscribers risk not being able to watch things like Sunday’s NFL football games.