\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNexstar; Tegna; Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tPerhaps, but U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley also made it clear in his dense ruling tonight that in the meantime it isn\u2019t going to be business as usual the way Nexstar wants it to be.<\/p>\n \n\tThe 52-page document lays out precisely that \u201cDefendants shall take all steps necessary to ensure that (a) the local television broadcast stations owned by TEGNA immediately prior to the Transaction (the \u201cAcquired Stations\u201d) will be maintained and operated as independent, ongoing, economically viable, and active competitors in the business of licensing retransmission.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe preliminary injunction, which doesn\u2019t override the current March 27 ordered TRO until April 21, also notes among various guardrails for the 200 Nexstar-owned stations and approximately 64 Tegna-owned stations nationwide that \u201cthe books, records, competitively sensitive sales, marketing and pricing information, and decision making concerning the production, distribution, provision, or sale of products or services by or under any of the Acquired Stations will be kept separate and apart from all other stations owned by Nexstar immediately prior to the Transaction and any of Nexstar\u2019s other operations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tConsolidating hundreds of local TV stations under one corporate owner would mean higher prices and lower quality programming for consumers,\u201d New York AG Letitia James said Friday after Nunley\u2019s much anticipated and expected ruling appeared in the federal docket.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNexstar\u2019s merger with Tegna illegally eliminates competition, and today we won a critical victory in our effort to enforce the law and stop this merger from moving forward,\u201d James added, echoing words of her California AG colleague and fellow plaintiff Rob Bonta. \u201cWe will keep fighting our case to ensure fair competition among local TV stations that serve communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTo spotlight that across the country aspect of this whole thing, as well as the antitrust angle, the hundreds of stations that would be under the control of a merged Nexstar-Tegna would span 80% of the country. <\/p>\n \n\tThe action filed in DC on March 23 by DirecTV, Newsmax and a collection of cable and broadband associations, including ones in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Washington, Indiana, and Mississippi challenges the Brendan Carr-run FCC\u2019s swift grant of a waiver to Nexstar. A hall pass of sorts that allows the conservative inclined company to be free of a national ownership rule that limits any entity from owning stations that collectively reach more than 39% of America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Nexstar](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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