The deal at issue would combine the nation's largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates into a single entity covering 80% of U.S. television households — which the AGs allege would be the largest broadcast station group in the country. The AGs argue the merger is illegal, contending it would concentrate broadcast programming in fewer hands, cut local jobs, raise cable bills, and harm local news delivery nationwide. In California specifically, the combined company would own half of the Big Four network-affiliated stations in both the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area and the San Diego area.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted the preliminary injunction on April 17, ordering the companies to stop merging while the case proceeds. The injunction follows a temporary restraining order granted last month in a related challenge brought by DIRECTV; the court has since consolidated the states' case with DIRECTV's case.
The merger had already cleared both the FCC and the DOJ before the state coalition moved for an emergency order to block it. Bonta's office filed the underlying lawsuit on March 18, leading the eight-state coalition.
Bonta said his office and attorneys general nationwide had secured a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit opposing what he described as the illegal and DOJ-approved merger of Nexstar and Tegna, and that the order demands the broadcasting titans stop merging while the case proceeds. He added that the federal government may have thrown in the towel but that the coalition would keep fighting for consumers, workers, affordability, and local news.
The press release also noted that in the weeks leading up to the merger's closing, reports detailed Nexstar's firing of long-standing journalists in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.