Federal judge blocks Nexstar-Tegna TV station merger until antitrust lawsuit is settled

U.S. newsFederal judge blocks Nexstar-Tegna TV station merger until antitrust lawsuit is settledA federal judge has blocked the $6.2 billion merger between local television giants Nexstar Media Group and Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Chairman, President and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Perry Sook, in Miami Beach, Fla., in 2020. Jason Koerner / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 18, 2026, 11:35 AM EDTBy The Associated PressA federal judge has blocked a $6.2 billion merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento, California, made the ruling late Friday afternoon, finding that eight attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their legal bid to stop the merger. The attorneys general, all Democrats, and DirecTV contend the merger will lead to higher prices for consumers, stifle local journalism and that the deal runs afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.The deal, announced last year and approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” national networks: ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.That would likely give Nexstar the power to raise the retransmission fees it charges to video programming distributors like DirecTV, which means higher bills for consumers, Nunley wrote. The company also has a track record of consolidating local television news stations when it owns more than one station in a market, the judge said, meaning viewers “will lose options for where to get their local news.”The deal could also force distributors like DirecTV to comply with Nexstar’s demands for higher broadcast...