1 month ago
Five caller authorities attorneys wide – immoderate of them Republican – person joined an antitrust suit seeking to artifact nan $6.2 cardinal merger of section TV position owners Nexstar and Tegna.
The transaction, which technically closed March 19 aft nan FCC and nan U.S. Department of Justice approved it, is simply a game-changer because it would create a elephantine entity whose stations would scope 80% of U.S. households. Federal rule to this constituent has constricted position scope by a azygous proprietor to 39% of households. DirecTV and 8 authorities AGs sued to artifact nan deal, and a national judge backed nan complaint, freezing nan woody via a “stand-still provision” limiting integration efforts by nan companies.
AGs successful Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont were added to an amended complaint, according to California AG Rob Bonta.
Nexstar says it will entreaty nan case. CEO Perry Sook said past week he expects nan entreaty to play retired complete respective months.
President Trump has expressed beardown support for nan merger, arsenic has FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The FCC’s Media Bureau issued an bid approving nan deal, though it was ne'er voted connected by nan afloat commission.
In a connection astir nan caller states boarding nan lawsuit, Bonta said their engagement makes nan suit “a bipartisan effort.” He called nan merger “illegal,” and said it will let Nexstar and Tegna to “control and raise prices, occurrence journalists, and predominate nan media landscape.” The combination, he added, is “a rotten woody … for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our section news.”
Nexstar deed backmost successful its ain statement, calling nan AGs “misguided” and saying they are “strangling section publicity – nan astir trusted root of independent, fact-based news disposable to Americans. The AGs, nary of whom has a way grounds of advocating for section media, would do good to understand nan manufacture they purport to protect.”
The institution said nan plaintiffs “should beryllium acold much wary of nan existent drivers of nan diminution of section news: nan unchecked emergence of Big Tech platforms, nan dispersed of misinformation connected societal media, and nan economical pressures that person already led to wide newsroom closures.” Undoing nan woody would bring astir “the demise of your section broadcast station,” nan connection concluded.
Nexstar besides pointed to a colony it reached Thursday pinch Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The memorandum of understanding agreed to by nan parties includes stipulations for section news programming and nan guidance of WBNS-TV successful Columbus and WKYC-TV successful Cleveland, nan 2 markets wherever nan mixed institution would run 2 stations.
“Journalistic independency is simply a cornerstone rule of our democracy,” Yost said. “I’m pleased that Nexstar has committed to upholding section news standards without going to court.”
