WASHINGTON (LN) — A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday denied emergency stays sought by broadcasters challenging a March 19, 2026 Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau order, holding that the appellants had not satisfied the stringent requirements for relief and expressing serious doubt about whether the court likely has jurisdiction to hear the case at all.

The panel — Judges Wilkins, Katsas, and Rao — consolidated two appeals, Docket Nos. 26-1062 and 26-1065, brought by the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania and others, with DIRECTV, LLC and Nexstar Media Inc. appearing as intervenors.

The court's core jurisdictional concern is timing. An application for review of the Media Bureau Order is still pending before the FCC itself, and the panel warned that an appeal filed in this court before the Commission resolves that application is, under circuit precedent, subject to dismissal as incurably premature. The panel cited International Telecard Association v. FCC, a 1999 per curiam decision, along with the governing statutory provisions at 47 U.S.C. sections 155(c)(7) and 402(b).

The panel also concluded that the appellants' showing of irreparable harm appears to be diminished by a preliminary injunction entered April 17, 2026 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in In re Nexstar-Tegna Merger Litigation, No. 26-CV-976, which prohibits further integration of Nexstar and TEGNA.

Rather than dismiss the mandamus petitions outright, the court set a briefing schedule on its own motion. The FCC and Nexstar must each file responses of no more than 5,200 words by May 11, 2026, and the court specifically directed the FCC to state when it expects to satisfy its nondiscretionary obligation to pass upon the pending application for review — citing 47 U.S.C. section 155(c)(4).

DIRECTV and the appellants may each file replies of no more than 2,600 words by May 18, 2026.

The panel directed all parties to address what impact, if any, the California district court's anti-integration injunction has on the appellants' ability to demonstrate irreparable harm sufficient to support a stay under the All Writs Act.

The order granted motions by amicus curiae participants to file briefs, directing the clerk to enter the lodged submissions into the record.