April 17, 2026 / 10:22 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A federal judge in California has blocked Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, ordering the deal paused until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento issued the ruling late Friday, finding that eight state attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their effort to stop the merger.
The transaction, announced last year and previously cleared by the Federal Communications Commission, would combine the companies into an owner of 265 television stations across 44 states and the District of Columbia, most affiliated with ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC.
Nunley first imposed a three-week emergency block and on April 7 heard arguments about whether that injunction should remain in effect while the lawsuit proceeds. The plaintiffs — eight Democratic attorneys general and satellite provider DirecTV — argue the merger would raise consumer prices, undermine local journalism and violate federal antitrust laws.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the consolidation “illegally eliminates competition,” warning it would mean “higher prices and lower quality programming for consumers.”
Nexstar’s lawyers told the court the deal had already been reviewed and approved by both the FCC and the Justice Department, and that the company had committed to expanding, not shrinking, local news and programming. Nexstar said it will appeal the ruling and noted the company believes the transaction closed more than four weeks ago, adding that it has acted in accordance with the existing court order.
The merger required an FCC waiver of longstanding ownership limits; FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in March Nexstar had agreed to divest six stations as part of the approvals. In his temporary restraining order, Nunley noted the combined company could end up owning two or three of the major network affiliates in as many as 31 local markets, a shift that would give Nexstar leverage over multichannel distributors such as DirecTV to demand higher retransmission fees. Nunley wrote that such leverage could force distributors to choose between paying more or leaving subscribers without access to key programming, including Sunday NFL games.