Attorneys general in eight states and DirecTV have filed lawsuits to block the merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna, arguing that it will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle journalism.
Nexstar said in August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. If approved by the Trump administration, the deal would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 40 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
The AGs were joined Thursday by DirecTV, which also filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger.
“Nexstar's purpose in acquiring Tegna is to drive up the price it can extract from DirecTV and other distributors, which will force them to raise prices to their subscribers,” the company said.
Nexstar said the deal would allow it to compete more effectively with richer legacy media companies and Big Tech.
But in the lawsuit by the states, filed with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, Calif., the eight Democratic attorneys general argued that it would come with a price.
The action was filed by the top lawyers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. DirecTV filed a separate case in the same court.
“If this merger moves forward, cable prices will spike for consumers in New York and across the country,” said Letitia James, New York attorney general, on Thursday.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Nexstar.
The state lawyers argued the merger would run afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies. It would also require a change in federal rules that limit how many stations that one company can own, although Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has advocated for loosening those restrictions.
The merger was endorsed in February by President Donald Trump, who wrote on social media that "we need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks.”
Nexstar flexed its muscles last fall in ordering its ABC stations to yank late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following comments he made about assassinated Republican activist Charlie Kirk, briefly leading to Kimmel's suspension. But ABC brought Kimmel back following an outcry, and Nexstar backed down.
Given Nexstar's tendency to consolidate newsrooms in communities where it owns more than one station, both lawsuits expressed concern that the merger would hurt the already-struggling local news business. There are 31 markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna own at least one station, according to the lawsuit.
“We all benefit when local newsrooms compete to get stories,” James said.
The attorneys general said they were open to having other states support their actions — even those whose chief legal officials are Republicans.
