Eight state attorneys general file suit to block TV station group merger

A radical of attorneys wide are taking ineligible enactment to artifact Nexstar Media Group’s projected $6.2 cardinal acquisition of Tegna’s TV stations, calling the woody atrocious for user cablegram bills and section journalism.

A suit filed Wednesday successful U.S. District Court successful Sacramento says the projected woody by 8 authorities instrumentality enforcers including California Atty. General Rob Bonta, claims the projected woody volition springiness Nexstar excessively overmuch power of section TV stations, yet hurting consumers by diminishing the diverseness of quality sources successful their markets.

Bonta said successful a connection that the woody volition origin “irreparable harm to section quality and consumers who trust connected their reporting arsenic a captious root of information.” The plaintiffs besides see authorities attorneys wide successful Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.

The Irving, Texas-based Nexstar is presently the largest presumption proprietor successful the U.S., with 164 outlets including KTLA successful Los Angeles. If the merger with Tegna succeeds, Nexstar would person 265 TV stations reaching 80% of the U.S. and aggregate outlets successful a fig of markets.

The suit besides claims that the merger would springiness Nexstar excessively overmuch leverage successful negotiating fees from pay-TV providers that transportation their stations. Higher fees paid to Nexstar would beryllium passed on to consumers successful their cablegram and outer bills, the suit asserts.

Most of Nexstar’s stations are affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, each of which transportation NFL football, the highest-rated programming connected TV by a wide a margin. Disputes implicit carriage fees betwixt presumption owners and pay-TV providers often effect successful blackouts and work interruptions to consumers.

DirecTV, which serves astir 11 cardinal pay-TV subscribers successful the U.S., filed a akin suit successful the aforesaid tribunal connected Thursday, claiming the Nexstar woody volition “irreparably thrust up user costs, trim section competition, shutter section newsrooms, and summation some the frequence and duration of blackouts of cardinal section teams and web programming.”

A Nexstar typical did not respond to a petition to comment.

President Trump has said helium favors Nexstar’s projected deal. But each large TV presumption proprietor believes consolidation successful the TV presumption concern is indispensable to thrive going guardant arsenic they conflict to vie with streaming video platforms that person eaten distant astatine their assemblage share.

The companies accidental they are astatine a disadvantage successful competing with tech companies by being constricted to owning stations successful 39% of the U.S., a headdress that was acceptable successful 2003.

Nexstar precocious chopped seasoned anchors and on-air reporters from its stations successful Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Further reductions successful section TV newsrooms would hap if Nexstar succeeded successful acquiring Tegna, which would apt mean consolidation of section newsrooms wherever it owned much than 1 station.