Nexstar Media Group’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna received Federal Communications Commission approval on Thursday, clearing a key regulatory hurdle even as two lawsuits were filed the same day to block the deal. The FCC said Chairman Brendan Carr approved the transaction with an agreement to divest six stations, a move intended to address ownership limits under FCC rules.
Nexstar disclosed last August that it would buy Tegna, a combination the company says would create a broadcaster owning 265 television stations across 44 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Associated Press account. The FCC approval came after the government’s FCC needed to grant a waiver of rules that restrict how many local stations one company can own.
Carr framed the approval as important for local broadcasting, saying that if people care about local news, they should care about the future of local broadcast stations. He said the deal would ensure broadcasters have the resources to keep investing in local operations. Perry Sook, Nexstar’s chairman and chief executive, called the company stronger and said it would be better positioned to deliver what he described as exceptional journalism and local programming.
The legal fight centers on antitrust claims advanced by state attorneys general and by DirecTV. The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, and the AP reported that they were brought by the top lawyers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia, all Democrats. Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said in the filing-related reporting that if the merger goes forward, cable prices would spike for consumers in New York and across the country.
DirecTV also opposed the transaction, with the company predicting that the merger would allow Nexstar to raise the price it can demand from DirecTV and other distributors for carrying Nexstar stations, which the company said would force distributors to raise prices to their subscribers. Both lawsuits also argued that consolidation could affect local journalism, including raising concerns about what they said would happen to newsrooms in communities where Nexstar and Tegna together would own more than one station.
The AP reported that the lawsuits cited “31 markets” where Nexstar and Tegna both own stations, and that they pointed to what they described as strain already affecting local news businesses. Anna Gomez, a Democratic FCC member, criticized the Republican-controlled agency’s action, saying it was done behind closed doors without an actual vote, and she said local journalism is under extraordinary strain as newsrooms are consolidated and editorial decisions are made away from the communities stations are licensed to serve.
The FCC approval also followed a political endorsement of the deal earlier this year. In February, President Donald Trump endorsed Nexstar’s bid, writing on social media that “we need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” according to the AP report. The Associated Press account also said Nexstar received approval from the Justice Department, while attempts to independently confirm that approval were not immediately successful.
Nexstar did not comment directly on the lawsuits, a spokesman said. The AP account noted that Nexstar previously sought to pull an ABC late-night host from the air over comments tied to Jimmy Kimmel and Charlie Kirk, an episode after which ABC restored Kimmel following public outcry and Nexstar backed down.