CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul applauded the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California after it granted a preliminary injunction halting the merger of Tegna Inc. (Tegna) and Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nexstar) while litigation in this case proceeds.
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Raoul and a coalition of eight attorneys general requested an emergency order when the companies recently received merger approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. This preliminary injunction follows a temporary restraining order granted last month in the challenge brought by DIRECTV. Since then, the court has consolidated the states’ case with DIRECTV’s related case.
“I commend the court for its decision to halt this illegal merger between Nexstar and TEGNA as we litigate this case to prevent the control over an unprecedented share of broadcast television content, including local news and sports,” Raoul said. “We are fighting to keep lower prices for Illinois consumers without jeopardizing competition in local news or cutting jobs in the newsroom. Now more than ever, consumers should have access to the diverse ideas represented in independent newsrooms.”
On March 18, Attorney General Raoul joined the coalition in filing a lawsuit to block the merger, a deal that is expected to create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, put more broadcast programming in the hands of fewer people, cut local jobs, increase cable bills, and significantly impact the delivery of news and other media content to Americans nationwide.
If allowed to go forward, this multibillion-dollar deal would combine the nation’s largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates, creating a titan covering 80% of U.S. television households.
In Illinois, these concerns are especially real. In the Quad Cities, Nexstar already controls the CBS- and FOX-affiliated stations while TEGNA owns the ABC-affiliated station. And in the St. Louis market – which includes 14 counties in southwestern Illinois – Nexstar already owns the FOX- and CW-affiliated stations, while TEGNA owns the NBC-affiliated station. In the Chicago market, Nexstar has already reportedly cut newsroom and on-air staff at WGN-TV in anticipation of the merger, raising serious concerns about what more consolidation could mean for local journalism across the state.
Joining Raoul in filing the lawsuit challenging the merger of Nexstar and TEGNA are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
