A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general is expanding its legal fight to block the proposed merger between Nexstar and Tegna, with three Republican attorneys general now joining 10 Democrats in a case that has also been consolidated with a parallel lawsuit brought by DirecTV.
The newest Republican attorney general participants — Dave Sunday of Pennsylvania, Kris Kobach of Kansas and Todd Rokita of Indiana — have aligned with a group of Democratic attorneys general led by California's Rob Bonta.
Two additional Democratic-led states also joined the case this week, further strengthening what has become a 13-state coalition challenging the merger on antitrust grounds.
The bipartisan group argues that this massive consolidation will lead to significant hikes in cable bills for consumers and reduced diversity in news and local journalism.
At the center of their complaint is Nexstar's $6.2 billion transaction that would combine the nation's largest and third-largest local television broadcasters.
If completed, the deal would create the largest TV station operator in U.S. history, with control of 264 stations and a potential reach of up to 80% of American households.
If approved, Nexstar would own more stations than CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC combined.
Critics argue that such scale would give Nexstar unprecedented influence over local news, advertising markets and retransmission fees charged to cable and satellite providers.
"This merger is illegal and will give Nexstar and Tegna the ability to control and raise prices, fire journalists, and dominate the media landscape," Bonta said in a statement announcing the expanded lawsuit.
Sunday echoed those concerns, emphasizing the financial impact on consumers.
"Pennsylvanians have been declaring that enough is enough when it comes to rising TV service subscription costs," he said.
"This merger would only push those budgets closer to breaking points."
The attorneys general argue that the merger would significantly reduce competition in at least 31 media markets where Nexstar and Tegna currently operate competing stations.
In some regions, the combined company would own two to four major broadcast affiliates tied to the "Big Four" networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — raising concerns about both pricing power and editorial diversity.
Nexstar already operates more than 200 stations reaching roughly 220 million people. Tegna adds another 64 stations across 51 markets.
Opponents of the deal say that consolidation at this level could lead to newsroom layoffs, reduced local coverage and increased fees passed on to consumers through higher cable and satellite bills.
The debate has also taken on a political dimension, with critics pointing to Nexstar's left-leaning political stance and its ownership of liberal NewsNation, whose primetime is led by Chris Cuomo.
Some opponents argue that further consolidation could amplify perceived editorial influence, though Nexstar has defended the merger as necessary to compete with large streaming platforms.
A key turning point came earlier this month when U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley issued a preliminary injunction pausing the merger.
In his ruling, Nunley found that the deal was likely to cause economic harm by concentrating too much power in a single broadcaster, particularly in markets where station ownership overlap would be significant.
The decision temporarily halts integration of the two companies while litigation proceeds, marking what Bonta called a "critical win" for the coalition.
The case has also absorbed a separate lawsuit filed by DirecTV, which argues that the merger would give Nexstar increased leverage to demand higher carriage fees.
Those costs, the company says, would ultimately be passed on to subscribers, further driving up television bills nationwide.
Meanwhile, a related legal battle unfolding in Washington, D.C., has added broader context to the dispute.
Newsmax is engaged in litigation involving six state cable associations, alleging unfair treatment in carriage negotiations and the fact that the deal violates federal law, which limits TV station groups from owning stations reaching more than 39% of U.S. households.
Legal observers note that both lawsuits underscore a central question facing regulators and courts: whether increasing consolidation in the media industry is undermining competition and limiting the diversity of viewpoints available to consumers.
Several polls have indicated that Americans overwhelmingly oppose more TV consolidation at the local and national levels.
Despite receiving prior approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, the Nexstar-Tegna merger now faces significant legal uncertainty.
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