The emergency motion seeks to stop the multibillion-dollar merger between the nation's largest and third-largest television station conglomerates, which was announced as closed yesterday evening minutes after receiving regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. The deal would create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, covering 80% of U.S. television households.
Attorney General Tong argued the merger would harm competition and consumers by concentrating control over local television markets. "This merger would create an unprecedented concentration of control over local TV markets, giving a single company more control over what we watch, what we pay, and the news we rely on," Tong said. "This kind of consolidation hurts competition, drives up costs, and threatens local journalism."
In Connecticut specifically, the combined entity would control 63.6% of the state's "Big Four" network television market, representing one of the largest post-merger increases in the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a standard measure of market concentration. The merger is expected to lead to consolidation of local television newsrooms, likely combining Nexstar's News 8 and TEGNA's Fox 61, leaving only NBC CT and Eyewitness News 3 as independent operations.
The legal challenge comes as part of Tong's broader criticism of federal antitrust enforcement under the Trump administration. Tong accused the administration of being "more concerned with protecting corporate interests than in doing its job to defend the public and uphold consumer protection and antitrust laws that help make life more affordable for American families."
Tong previously intervened in other major merger challenges, including the Hewlett-Packard Enterprises/Juniper Networks combination, which he alleged the Trump administration "greenlit" to benefit corporate interests rather than the public. He also continued fighting for consumers after the DOJ settled the Live Nation/Ticketmaster antitrust case, an action that was "promptly rejected by a bipartisan group of attorneys general."
The attorneys general are seeking immediate court intervention to prevent what they characterize as irreversible harm to local journalism and consumer choice. The motion argues that allowing the merger to proceed would eliminate competition between the broadcasting giants and result in higher cable bills and reduced local news coverage across affected markets.