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Nextstar Media Group completed the acquisition of another owner of the broadcast station group Tegna after sealing regulatory approval, despite antitrust lawsuits filed against the deal in recent days.
Nexstar’s $6.2 billion merger with Tegna brings together more than 260 local television affiliates across the United States.
Nexstar and Tegna, like other broadcast station groups, are looking to consolidate as the industry faces the same challenges as its cable and entertainment media counterparts, namely declining pay-TV customers due to the rise of technology and streaming options.
“This transaction is critical to maintaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve. By bringing these two exceptional companies together, Nexstar will become a stronger, more dynamic company, better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities and talent,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in a statement.
“We are grateful to President Trump, [FCC] Chairman Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and allowing this transaction to move forward. »
In February, President Donald Trump endorsed the merger between Nexstar and Tegna in a TruthSocial article after months of criticism over the deal’s potential effects.
The acquisition project, announced in August, was to be finalized in the second half of 2026.
Broadcast station owners manage affiliate stations of major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, and are known for airing local news, sports and other broadcast content. The companies remain profitable thanks to the high commissions they receive from pay-TV distributors and have argued that consolidation would preserve local TV news.
However, decades-old laws have prevented such mergers from happening in recent years.
The green light from the FCC and DOJ allows the deal to proceed by waiving the law that prevents any company from owning broadcast stations that reach more than 39 percent of U.S. television households.
However, in recent days, two federal antitrust lawsuits have been filed in an effort to block the merger: one against the attorneys general of eight states, including California and New York, and another against satellite and streaming TV provider DirecTV.
The suits each argue that the consolidation is anticompetitive and would increase costs for customers, reduce competition, lead to the closure of local newsrooms and cause stations to cut television due to carriage struggles with distributors over pricing.
“DIRECTV supports the actions taken by states and has determined that it is necessary to join this effort to protect competition and consumers,” Michael Hartman, general counsel and director of external affairs for DirecTV, said in a statement. “We have always made it clear that this merger is anti-competitive and contrary to the public interest and that, if it goes through, it would trigger a similar wave of consolidation.”