A federal judge has blocked the proposed $6.2 billion merger between local television giants Nexstar Media Group and Tegna, pending the outcome of an antitrust lawsuit.
US District Court Chief Judge Troy L Nunley issued the ruling on Friday, concluding that eight state attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to succeed in their legal challenge to prevent the deal. The acquisition, originally announced in 2025 and approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in February, would have created a single company owning 265 television stations across 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of major national networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
The attorneys general, all Democrats, and DirecTV argued that the merger would lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism, and that it violated federal antitrust laws. Nexstar’s lawyers contended that the deal had already been reviewed and cleared by the FCC and the Department of Justice, and that the FCC order committed the company to expand local journalism and programming.
The merger required the approval of the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules limiting how many local stations one company can own. FCC chair Brendan Carr said in March that Nexstar had agreed to divest six stations. However, in his emergency temporary restraining order, Judge Nunley noted that the merger would give Nexstar ownership of two or even three of the “Big Four” local affiliates in 31 local television markets, potentially allowing it to demand higher broadcast fees from distributors like DirecTV.
Judge Nunley, based in Sacramento, California, had previously imposed a three-week emergency block on the deal and heard arguments on 7 April regarding its extension until the lawsuit is fully resolved.
