California AG Expands Bipartisan Coalition to Block $6.2 Billion Nexstar-Tegna Merger

SACRAMENTO (LN) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday filed an amended complaint in his antitrust challenge to the $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc., expanding the coalition of objecting states to 13 and transforming the lawsuit into a bipartisan effort.

The filing comes weeks after a federal judge in the Eastern District of California granted a preliminary injunction blocking the merger, which would combine the nation’s largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates.

Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont joined the original coalition led by Bonta, which already included Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.

“Antitrust enforcement is not political — it’s about protecting working families and helping ensure the benefits of a vibrant economy are for everyone, not just well-connected corporations,” Bonta said in a statement. “Today, five additional states join us in our challenge of the Nexstar/Tegna merger, now making this lawsuit a bipartisan effort.”

The states argue the deal would create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, covering 80% of U.S. television households. In California, the combined entity would own half of the Big Four network-affiliated stations in two major markets: the local FOX and ABC stations in the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area and the local FOX and CBS stations in San Diego.

Bonta’s office cited reports that Nexstar fired long-standing journalists in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York in the weeks leading up to the planned closing.

“This is not controversial stuff — this merger is illegal and will give Nexstar and Tegna the ability to control and raise prices, fire journalists, and dominate the media landscape,” Bonta said. “State attorneys general nationwide understand just how important robust antitrust enforcement is to American life, and what a rotten deal this is for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news.”

The Eastern District of California consolidated the states’ case with a related challenge brought by DIRECTV, which also secured a temporary restraining order. Defendants appealed the preliminary injunction to the Ninth Circuit, and Nexstar’s opening brief is due May 20, 2026.