On paper, Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna looked seamless. Announced in August and approved in March, the deal moved quickly through regulatory review with few concessions, drawing little public debate even as it raised major antitrust concerns.
The combination gives Nexstar control of 265 local TV stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, reaching roughly 80% of U.S. households — well beyond limits implied by federal competition policy from 2004. In a different era, the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department might have blocked or slowed the deal. Instead, the FCC’s media bureau granted Nexstar a waiver and the Justice Department declined to sue, while the company publicly courted the Trump administration.
Nexstar’s maneuvering included high-profile programming and personnel moves that aligned it with conservative voices. After FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel be forced out for comments he made on air, Nexstar briefly pulled Kimmel’s show from its ABC affiliates. Nexstar’s cable channel NewsNation hired pro-Trump commentator Katie Pavlich for a primetime slot. President Trump initially signaled reluctance but ultimately endorsed the merger, posting “GET THAT DEAL DONE!” on Truth Social; Carr echoed the endorsement publicly.
The FCC approved Nexstar’s waiver without a full commission vote, with Carr arguing that consolidating broadcast stations could help local news given the decline of local newspapers. Critics said Carr conflated the fortunes of a single giant broadcaster with the health of local journalism. Observers also contrasted the rapid approval with other large media reviews: Sinclair’s deal for Tribune Media was killed after 15 months of review, while Nexstar’s earlier Tribune acquisition won approval in 10 months and other big media deals have taken a year.
Nexstar moved fast after the approvals. On the same day the FCC and Justice Department signaled approval, Nexstar said it had already begun absorbing Tegna. Tegna’s CEO Mike Steib reportedly sold shares that day, pocketing about $22.6 million. Nexstar’s CEO Perry Sook publicly thanked Trump, Carr and the Justice Department and addressed station employees from a Dallas studio — the merger’s swift mechanics left critics saying the company acted as if the combination were a fait accompli.
That speed provoked pushback. A coalition of eight states’ attorneys general, several Democratic state AGs, and DirecTV sued to block the merger, alleging it would make Nexstar so dominant in local TV that it violates antitrust laws meant to protect competition and independent local news sources. DirecTV, which pays stations to carry their signals, argued the deal would give Nexstar unfair leverage in retransmission fee negotiations.
A federal judge in Sacramento, Chief Judge Troy Nunley, temporarily barred Nexstar from operating Tegna stations while the consolidated lawsuits proceed. In court, Nexstar’s lawyers argued that owning more stations does not necessarily translate to greater bargaining power with pay-TV distributors. “We don’t think that an increase in the number of stations necessarily results in an increase in bargaining leverage,” Nexstar’s lead trial lawyer Alex Okuliar contended.
State lawyers and antitrust experts disputed that view, saying decades of antitrust precedent recognize that scale can create leverage. California deputy attorney general for antitrust Laura Antonini and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, among others, stressed the need for competing local news sources. “We want a robust dissemination of ideas from different sources,” Weiser said.
The litigation has raised practical and immediate concerns for stations, journalists and viewers. Nexstar told investors it expects $300 million a year in “synergies” from consolidating operations — including merging programming teams in markets where it would now own multiple major-network stations, such as Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Seattle. In prior acquisitions, including Tribune Media in 2019, Nexstar cut dozens of station jobs; layoffs have reportedly resumed as the company takes on roughly $5 billion in debt to finance the Tegna deal.
Since the judge’s temporary restraining order, Nexstar has been temporarily barred from fully operating Tegna’s stations. Stations had briefly been instructed to add Nexstar branding to newscasts; those graphics were removed after the court action. It’s unclear who is running Tegna’s stations day-to-day while litigation plays out; Nexstar declined to comment in detail to reporters.
Tegna journalists say they expect mass layoffs in markets where Nexstar will own two “big four” affiliates. Reporters and producers told NPR, on condition of anonymity, that management has indicated plans to rely more on content from Nexstar’s NewsNation rather than drawing from the national networks for local segments. Nexstar’s Sook has spoken about growing NewsNation into a broader news service, potentially supplying content to local stations it owns, a shift that could reduce local newsroom capacities.
DirecTV’s lead trial attorney Glenn Pomerantz urged the court to block full integration until a complete antitrust trial occurs, warning that immediate layoffs and operational changes would make it difficult for an independent Tegna to rebound if a court later required undoing the merger. “An independent Tegna will not have a newsroom staff that they can immediately rely on to compete against Nexstar,” he said.
Nexstar counters that tearing the deal apart would be impractical because Tegna has already been absorbed, and that DirecTV’s concerns are really business disputes over fees rather than anticompetitive conduct. Nexstar also warned a prolonged injunction could harm the company economically by preventing integration that it says would allow investments in new technology for the stations.
Judge Nunley — reportedly irritated by Nexstar’s rapid closing of the deal — indicated he might impose an indefinite pause and said he would issue a ruling in the days following the hearing. Lawyers for both sides expect hard-fought proceedings ahead.
For viewers and local communities, the key questions are immediate and long-term: who will produce local reporting, how many journalists will remain, and whether consolidated ownership will limit the diversity of local voices. Nexstar notes it still owns only about 15% of all U.S. local TV stations by count, but its reach into households and bargaining positions has critics worried about market power and the future of local journalism.
