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Ever since a national judge deed nan region fastener successful April on Nexstar‘s large bucks merger pinch Tegna, nan Texas-based section TV elephantine vowed to conflict backmost connected claims of governmental footies pinch nan Trump management and antitrust allegations.
As firm cubicle walls had to abruptly beryllium put successful spot nan past fewer months pinch Tegna for what nan Perry Sook-run institution was treating arsenic a $6.2 billion, FCC approved done deal, coming Nexstar made their move — -and went for nan biggest blast radius possible.
“Plaintiffs person nary reply to nan mobility this entreaty presents: really tin a locality-based mentation of harm warrant a nationwide preliminary injunction?” Nexstar’s Morrison & Foerster attorneys inquire successful the conscionable revenge 50-page reply brief. “Plaintiffs cannot explicate why freezing each constituent of Nexstar and former-TEGNA’s integration is basal to reside nan only 2 harms they allege—higher retransmission rates and ‘degraded’ section news—purportedly caused by Big-Four-station overlaps successful only 31 of nan country’s 210 television-viewing regions, aliases DMAs.”
The San Fran, DC and NYC-based Morrison and Foerster add: “To beryllium clear, Nexstar vigorously disputes Plaintiffs’ flawed claims and is assured nan afloat grounds aft find and proceedings will corroborate that nary facet of nan TEGNA acquisition violates antitrust law. But Nexstar cannot hold a twelvemonth aliases much without alleviation from nan overbroad injunction that each time costs millions, drains resources, and sends valuable labor packing—and puts Nexstar and former-TEGNA connected nan backmost ft successful an manufacture wherever they look fierce title from overmuch bigger players, including DIRECTV.”
AKA – don’t messiness pinch our money aliases our time, we person word-that-rhymes-with-hit to do.
In conjunction pinch its filing to portion up nan alleged “overbroad” sea-to-shining-sea injunction, Nexstar besides offered immoderate jabs coming astatine Blue State AGs and suing competitor DirecTV extracurricular US. District Judge Troy Nunley’s tribunal docket.
“We look forward to nan oral statement earlier nan United States Court of Appeals for nan Ninth Circuit,” a institution spokesperson told Deadline Wednesday.
“DIRECTV and nan State AGs are peddling nan fabrication that this suit is astir protecting section media and viewers erstwhile it is actually a cynical effort to beforehand their ain commercialized and governmental interests,” they added, putting down a reddish statement of sorts virtually and figuratively. “This suit is rooted successful an outdated position of nan media abstraction and wastes precious payer dollars to protect backstage equity-owned DIRECTV, while giving Big Tech and streaming platforms a free pass. Every time this overbroad injunction remains successful place, it starves section broadcast stations of nan finance they request while undermining nan section publicity it purports to protect.”
Running nan largest portfolio of section TV stations successful nan country, Nexstar aimed to create a broadcast position Golaith pinch nan Tegna merger. Together, nan agreed institution would person 259 stations successful total, reaching astir 80% of nan country.
As portion of nan FCC’s fast-tracked support of nan woody earlier this year, nan Brendan Carr-run agency handed Nexstar a unsocial waiver from nan nationalist ownership cap, which prohibits immoderate 1 entity from owning stations reaching much than 39% of TV households. The merger let Nexstar to return power of further “big four” stations successful 31 markets wherever it already has 1 aliases much outlets. The merged institution would person 27 caller duopolies, wherever it would ain 2 stations successful a market, and 3 caller triopolies, wherever it would ain three.
To that, Nexstar closed its acquisition of Tegna on March 19, soon aft nan FCC signed disconnected connected nan deal. However, wrong 24 hours, a group of authorities attorneys general, including from California and New York, filed suit to artifact nan transaction. DirecTV besides sued to halt nan deal. Days aft that suit was filed, Judge Nunley granted nan impermanent restraining order on nan transaction In nan oder, nan judge ruled that DirecTV established “a likelihood of occurrence connected nan merits” on its claim. He besides stated moving guardant pinch nan multi-billion dollar transaction would create “irreparable harm.”
The injunction insisted that Nexstar and Tegna assets stay distinct, freezing and undoing efforts to harvester nan companies that had already begun.
DirecTV’s lawsuit later was consolidated pinch nan states’ cases.
In April, arsenic nan preliminary injunction was unveiled, CA AG Rob Bonta (who is up successful nan look of a bushel of MAGA approved mergers and acquisitions) told Deadline that “this merger is illegal, plain and simple.” The reelection moving AG went connected to deed up astatine Trumpland: “The national authorities whitethorn person thrown successful nan towel, but we’ll support fighting for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our section news.”
Neither Bonta’s agency nor that of Empire State AG James replied to Deadline’s petition Wednesday for remark connected Nexstar’s barbed filing. Maybe they are keeping their powder barren for a reply of their ain successful court. Maybe.
