Attorney General James Sues to Stop Nexstar-Tegna Merger

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a coalition of seven other attorneys general in suing to stop the merger of Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar) and Tegna, Inc. (Tegna), two of the biggest owners of local television stations in the nation. The proposed merger would create the largest broadcast station group in the country and consolidate ownership of popular local television stations in media markets across the nation, including in Buffalo. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that this merger would be illegal, could raise costs for consumers, and would degrade the quality of local news that tens of millions of Americans rely on. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring the merger illegal and preventing it from being completed.  

“Competition among local TV stations allows consumers to enjoy a variety of affordable options for quality coverage of news, sports, and more,” said Attorney General James. “This illegal merger threatens local news and could raise fees for consumers by combining hundreds of TV stations under the same owner. I’m suing to stop Nexstar’s illegal merger with Tegna to keep cable bills down and ensure New Yorkers can access the independent local news options they count on.”  

Nexstar is currently the country’s largest local television broadcasting group, controlling more than 200 stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people. Tegna owns 64 television stations in 51 different media markets. If the merger is completed, 31 media markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna each own competing stations would see diminished competition. In New York, the Buffalo media market would be one of those 31 affected markets. These local stations are affiliates of the “Big Four” networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX – which provide critical local news in addition to coverage of sports, prime time events, and more. Nexstar owns dozens of Big Four stations nationwide, including 49 CBS affiliates, 51 FOX affiliates, 35 NBC affiliates, and 33 ABC affiliates. Providers like Comcast, DirecTV, DISH, and Charter typically pay the owner of each local Big Four broadcast station in any given media market a fee to retransmit the station’s content to their subscribers.  

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that Nexstar and Tegna are direct competitors and that a merger of the two would significantly limit competition in local television markets, raising costs for consumers and limiting the quality and diversity of local news. By eliminating competition, the merger would give Nexstar the power to charge cable providers higher fees for its stations’ programming, and those fees would likely be passed on to subscribers. If cable providers refuse to pay the increased fees post-merger, Nexstar would have the power to black out multiple Big Four channels in a given local market, depriving consumers of access to the channels they have come to rely on.  

Attorney General James and the coalition also argue that the merger would severely threaten consumers’ access to high-quality local news. A recent study found that Nexstar is the worst offender of “news duplication,” a practice in which station owners air identical local news content across multiple stations. Nexstar also has an established track record of consolidating newsrooms when it owns more than one station in each media market. These tactics eliminate independent news operations and diminish diversity in news coverage at a time when local news is already under threat. If the merger succeeds, communities would face fewer choices for local news in media markets across the country. 

Attorney General James and the coalition allege that the proposed merger violates the federal Clayton Act by unlawfully limiting competition. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring the merger illegal and preventing it from being carried out.  

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.  

For New York, this matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Morgan Feder and OAG Fellow Jaya Mantovani, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane and Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann, all of the Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is a part of the Division of Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.