California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by a coalition of eight state attorneys general, has filed a lawsuit seeking to block Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc., warning the deal would dangerously consolidate control over local television markets and violate federal law.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, argues the merger would combine the nation's largest and third-largest broadcast station owners into a single entity reaching roughly 80% of U.S. television households.
According to Bonta, that level of concentration is "illegal, plain and simple," running afoul of federal antitrust protections designed to preserve competition and prevent monopolies.
A coalition of attorneys general from New York, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Virginia joined California in the lawsuit, reflecting bipartisan concern over the transaction's potential impact.
Conservative and consumer groups have also opposed the merger.
The liberal-leaning Nexstar company would achieve massive media concentration, owning 244 stations across 44 states. The new company would own more stations than those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox combined.
Expected approval by the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr would directly flout Congress and a 2004 statute that set the national TV ownership reach to just 39% of U.S. households — not the 80% Nexstar will reach.
Conservative opposition to the FCC plan to lift the cap for this deal has included Newsmax, CPAC, the Zionist Organization of America, and the National Religious Broadcasters.
Nexstar owns the NewsNation cable channel, which features former CNN host Chris Cuomo. In the 2024 election, Nexstar employees gave nearly 80% of their presidential political donations to former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a senior member of House Republican leadership, has been a leading congressional opponent to the Nexstar merger.
"I also urge the FCC to reject the proposed merger between Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Tegna Inc. or any other merger that violates the statutory cap and fails to serve the public interest," Stefanik wrote in a December letter to the FCC.
"It is my view that the FCC cannot lift or weaken the broadcast television ownership cap without the consent of Congress," she wrote. "Congress, not the FCC, has the sole authority to change the ownership cap."
Stefanik also warned that the merger would give Nexstar "a near-monopoly over many Americans' local news."
At the heart of the state attorneys' legal challenge is Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers that substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.
The complaint alleges that the Nexstar-Tegna deal would do both, particularly in major markets such as Sacramento and San Diego, where the combined company would control multiple "Big Four" network affiliates, including FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC stations.
Under the proposed merger, Nexstar will own at least two major broadcast stations in at least 25 markets across the U.S.
Critics say the move will increase consumer cable and local advertising costs — while giving Nexstar dominance over local news impacting the political balance.
"This is exactly the kind of consolidation Congress intended to prevent," said one media policy analyst aligned with conservative antitrust skepticism.
"You cannot have one company effectively controlling access to local news for most of the country without raising serious legal and constitutional concerns."
The FCC is also empowered to block transactions that are not in the public interest, and critics say this merger clearly meets that standard.
The lawsuit also highlights concerns about the impact on local communities.
According to Bonta's office, the merger would likely lead to job cuts and reduced local coverage, citing reports that Nexstar has already laid off long-standing journalists in major markets including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
Critics warn that such trends would accelerate if the merger proceeds, as cost-cutting measures are often used to justify large-scale acquisitions.
In California specifically, the combined entity would own half of the Big Four network-affiliated stations in key regions, including Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto and San Diego.
Bonta criticized the current Trump administration approach of rubber-stamping large corporate mergers.
He pointed to other recent cases, including the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger and the Live Nation-Ticketmaster settlement, as evidence of what he described as a failure to adequately protect consumers.
Polls show broad public opposition to the FCC plan to lift the TV ownership cap and approve the Nexstar merger.
Last month a Public Opinion Strategies poll found that Republican voters overwhelmingly — 68% — oppose the Nexstar merger with opposition increasing to 96% when they hear the merger implications. Similarly, a December poll by the NHMC found 72% of likely voters opposed “large national broadcasters buying up or merging with local TV stations.”
Even more, 80% of respondents, opposed loosening legal restrictions that would allow large corporations to buy more local stations.
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