Updated on: March 19, 2026 / 9:37 PM EDT / CBS/AP
The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday evening that it approved the $6.2 billion merger of broadcast station owners Nexstar and Tegna, a move that came the same day eight state attorneys general and DirecTV filed lawsuits seeking to block the deal. The challengers say the merger will raise consumer prices and harm local journalism.
The FCC said the acquisition will “enable these broadcast TV stations to counter the growing power that national programmers have amassed in recent years.” The agency noted that, even after the deal, Nexstar would own less than 15% of U.S. television stations.
In a lengthy social media post marking the approval, FCC Chair Brendan Carr said Nexstar agreed to “certain concrete conditions,” including divesting a number of stations, increasing localism and taking steps aimed at affordability.
Nexstar said the transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities it serves, and a company spokesperson told CBS News it would “let the press release speak for itself” and decline further comment.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the chamber’s only Democrat, criticized the approval, saying the merger creates a “broadcast behemoth” that violates the commission’s National Television Ownership rule, which bars any owner from reaching more than 39% of U.S. television households. Nexstar had said the deal would give it an 80% reach. Gomez added the merger was approved “behind closed doors with no open process, no full Commission vote, and no transparency for the consumers and communities who will bear the consequences.”
Nexstar announced in August that it would acquire Tegna for $6.2 billion, creating a company that would own 265 television stations in 40 states and the District of Columbia, many of them local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. Nexstar has argued the merger will help it compete with larger legacy media companies and Big Tech.
The lawsuit by eight Democratic state attorneys general, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, said the merger would come with costs for consumers. The action was brought by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. DirecTV filed a separate suit in the same court.
“If this merger moves forward, cable prices will spike for consumers in New York and across the country,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. DirecTV said Nexstar’s purpose in acquiring Tegna is to extract higher fees from distributors like DirecTV, which would force those companies to raise subscriber prices.
The state lawyers contend the merger violates federal antitrust laws and would require changes to federal rules that limit how many stations a single company may own — rules Carr has pushed to loosen.
The deal was publicly endorsed in February by former President Trump, who wrote on social media that “we need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks.”
Nexstar has shown a willingness to exert control over programming: last fall it ordered its ABC stations to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after comments about an assassinated Republican activist, a move that led to Kimmel’s brief suspension by Disney before ABC reinstated him and Nexstar rescinded the action.
Both the state and DirecTV lawsuits warned the merger would likely prompt further consolidation of newsrooms where Nexstar already owns multiple stations, potentially weakening local news coverage. The filings say there are 31 markets where Nexstar and Tegna each own at least one station.
“We all benefit when local newsrooms compete to get stories,” James said.
The attorneys general said they are open to having other states join their challenge, including those led by Republican chief legal officers.