{"id":79410,"date":"2026-04-18T12:12:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/nexstar-tegna-merger-frozen-by-judges-preliminary-injunction\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T12:12:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:12:48","slug":"nexstar-tegna-merger-frozen-by-judges-preliminary-injunction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/nexstar-tegna-merger-frozen-by-judges-preliminary-injunction\/","title":{"rendered":"Nexstar-Tegna Merger Frozen By Judge’s Preliminary Injunction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n\t(Updated with Nexstar statement)<\/strong> A federal judge just put a halt to Nexstar\u2019s proposed $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, putting in doubt the combination of the companies to create a broadcast station giant \u2013 at least for now.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith just a few hours to go on the current TRO, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley on Friday issued a preliminary injunction, concluding that the transaction would diminish competition in violation of antitrust laws. The matter now enters a state of corporate stasis\u00a0while the antitrust issues and trial play out.<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, the preliminary injunction comes with a legal caveat.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAt Defendants\u2019 request, this preliminary injunction shall take effect starting April 21, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. PDT,\u201d says tonight\u2019s 52-page ruling. \u201cIn the meantime, to preserve the status quo and good cause appearing,\u00a0the Court extends its Temporary Restraining Order (ECF No. 60) as modified (ECF No. 145) through April 21, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. PDT.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tVery quickly, Nexstar made their intention to not take the defeat quietly official. \u201cWe will appeal today\u2019s decision and look forward to presenting our case on its merits before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,\u201d the company said in a statement late Friday. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe decision is a defeat not just for the companies but also a black eye for the Trump administration\u2019s FCC, which gave a relatively speedy greenlight to the transaction.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn fact, in many ways, the deal was a linchpin of FCC chairman Brendan Carr\u2018s goal of boosting the leverage of local TV stations against the power of national networks. In hydra-like fashion, Carr\u2019s agenda saw Jimmy Kimmel pulled into political and cultural quicksand last year as Nexstar pulled the ABC late-night host off its stations for more than a week.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn the flip side, Joe Biden-appointed FCC commissioner Anna Gomez praised the California-based judge\u2019s decision Friday.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis is an important step toward ensuring that decisions of this magnitude are made with consumers in mind, not billion-dollar companies cutting backroom deals out of public view,\u201d she posted online. \u201cI welcome the court\u2019s decision to pause this transaction and bring much-needed scrutiny to a deeply flawed approval process,\u201d Gomez added, taking a swipe at the Trump administration\u2019s fast-tracked approval method and its \u201ccoordinated, multi-agency effort to avoid accountability and judicial review.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPlaintiffs DirecTV and various states have until April 30 to file amended complaints \u2014 which they are likely to do, we hear.<\/p>\n
\n\tTonight, California\u2019s Attorney General Rob Bonta was quick to take the win, even though there are likely months, if not years, of corporate courtroom drama to come, plus blowback from the spurned Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMy office and attorneys general nationwide have secured a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit opposing the illegal and U.S. DOJ-approved merger of Nexstar\/Tegna \u2014 an order that demands the broadcasting titans stop merging while our case proceeds. This is a critical win in our case,\u201d\u00a0Bonta told Deadline this evening. \u201cThis merger is illegal, plain and simple. The federal government may have thrown in the towel, but\u00a0we\u2019ll keep fighting for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBonta, who scored another win this week with the verdict by a federal jury in NYC that Live Nation is an illegal monopoly, was a driving force among the eight state AGs who filed suit March 18 to block the Nexstar-Tegna mega-merger.<\/p>\n
\n\tDirecTV said in a statement, \u201cWe commend the Court\u2019s decision, which reinforces the\u00a0coalition of states\u2019 and our shared belief\u00a0that unchecked station consolidation will force consumers to pay more for less by reducing the quality and variety of local news coverage, driving up content prices, and increasing the threat of station blackouts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIf allowed to go through eventually, the Nexstar-Tenga transaction would create a broadcast station behemoth, with 259 stations reaching about 80% of the country. As part of its FCC approval, the agency granted Nexstar a waiver from the national ownership cap, which prohibits any one entity from owning stations reaching more than 39% of TV households.<\/p>\n
\n\tNexstar closed its acquisition of Tegna on March 19, shortly after the FCC announced its regulatory approval. But in the preceding 24 hours, a group of state attorneys general, including from the Golden State and New York, filed suit to block the transaction. DirecTV also sued to halt the deal.<\/p>\n
\n\tRELATED: Nexstar-Tegna Merger Cheered By Wall Street And Local TV Rivals: Are More Mega-Deals On The Way?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\tThe next week, Nunley granted a temporary restraining order on the transaction, ruling that DirecTV established \u201ca likelihood of success on the merits\u201d on its claim, and that moving forward with the transaction would create \u201cirreparable harm.\u201d DirecTV\u2019s case later was consolidated with the states\u2019 cases.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe TRO required that Nexstar keep the Tegna assets distinct, freezing efforts to combine the companies that already had started.<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\tL-R: Brendan Carr and Donald Trump<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\tDonald Trump endorsed the merger in February, and his FCC chairman Carr, indicated his support shortly thereafter, even though the transaction still was being reviewed by the agency.<\/p>\n
\n\tRELATED: Nexstar CEO Salutes Donald Trump For Backing Tegna Merger, Says Mega-Deal Is On Track To Close By June<\/strong>\u2013<\/p>\n
\n\tWith the merger, Nexstar would gain control of additional \u201cbig four\u201d stations in 31 markets where it already has one or more outlets. The company would have 27 new duopolies, where it would own two stations in a market, and three new triopolies, where it would own three. <\/p>\n
\n\tIn his ruling, Nunley rejected Nexstar\u2019s argument that its competitive landscape includes streaming and digital services, siding with DirecTV\u2019s contention that \u201ccustomers do not consider them to be reasonable substitutes.\u201d Moreover, the judge concluded that Nexstar and Tegna competed in local, designated market areas, not nationwide.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe fact that MVPDs cannot turn to stations outside of a [local market] to replace blacked out stations is determinative of the geographic market \u2014 there are no alternate sources of supply,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n
\n\tNunley sided with plaintiffs\u2019 arguments that the merger would give Nexstar greater bargaining leverage to extract higher retransmission fees. There also was \u201cample evidence,\u201d the judge wrote, that those fees get passed along to consumers.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe judge also rejected Nexstar\u2019s request that the plaintiffs post a $150 million bond as the case plays out. Instead, he is requiring a nominal bond of $10,000.<\/p>\n
\n\tWall Street\u00a0punished Nexstar shares\u00a0when the court issued its initial ruling. Long a standout performer in the battered media sector due to a strong balance sheet and demonstrated ability to execute M&A transactions, the broadcaster\u2019s stock encountered rare turbulence over the Tegna uncertainty. Benchmark Capital cut its 12-month price target by $50 on the company\u2019s shares, citing near-term hurdles to the merger, but maintained a \u201cbuy\u201d rating.<\/p>\n
Nexstar has let its lawyers do the talking for the company in recent weeks, but Nexstar CEO Perry Sook is scheduled to be interviewed by\u00a0Inside Edition\u00a0<\/em>host Debra Norville on Tuesday at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. While it\u2019s hard to know if the conversation will touch on the Tegna situation in any detail, Sook surely will be asked May 7, when Nexstar reports its first-quarter earnings.<\/p>\n
\n\tRELATED: <\/strong>Too Big Or Too Small: Five Takeaways As Senators Weigh Local News, TV Ownership Limits And Trump\u2019s Surprise Nexstar Merger Endorsement<\/strong><\/p>\n
Despite the late twist in the merger narrative, investors have boosted Nexstar shares back to the level where they were before the judge\u2019s first ruling. They closed Friday at $200.78, up 2%, the first time they finished above $200 since March 27.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>