Attorney General Bonta Files Lawsuit Seeking to Block $6.2 Billion Nexstar/Tegna Broadcasting Merger

Merger would create a media giant covering 80% of U.S. television households

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, alongside a coalition of eight attorneys general, filed a lawsuit to block the acquisition of Tegna Inc. (Tegna) by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nexstar). Tegna and Nexstar are two major broadcast station companies that own and operate television stations throughout the country. If allowed to proceed, the deal would create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, putting more broadcast programming in the hands of fewer people, removing control from the communities they report to, cutting local jobs, and significantly impacting the delivery of news and other media content to Americans nationwide. Due to the considerable increase in consolidation, the deal is also expected to raise prices and harm consumers. In California, the combined entity would own half of the Big Four (FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS) network-affiliated stations, including the local FOX and ABC stations in the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area and the local FOX and CBS stations in the San Diego area. Alarmingly, reports have already detailed Nexstar's firing of long standing journalists in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

"Today, my office has filed a lawsuit to block the proposed merger of broadcasting giants Nexstar and Tegna. This merger would cause incredibly high levels of concentration in local TV markets and is expected to raise cable and satellite prices across the country, causing irreparable harm to local news and consumers who rely on their reporting as a critical source of information," said Attorney General Bonta. "If approved, this multibillion-dollar deal would combine the nation's largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates, creating a behemoth covering 80% of U.S. television households. This merger is illegal, plain and simple, running contrary to federal antitrust laws that protect consumers. When broadcast media is owned by a handful of companies, we get fewer voices, less competition, and communities lose the critical check on power that local journalism delivers."

The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges that the merger clearly violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which holds that mergers that substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly are illegal. If the Nexstar/Tegna merger is allowed to proceed, local markets will immediately see a lessening of competition, including both the Sacramento and San Diego markets.

In addition to the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also has authority and responsibility to halt such a merger, as the $6.2 billion Nexstar/Tegna deal would violate an FCC rule which would prohibit this merger. However, on February 7, 2026, President Trump tweeted "Get that deal done!," saying that the two companies should be allowed to merge in order to "Knock out the Fake News" from the "Fake News National TV Networks." FCC Chairman Brendan Carr immediately responded on social media: "Let's get it done."

In filing today's lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of New York, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Virginia.

The Trump Administration has shown states and consumers that it is more concerned with protecting corporate interests than doing its job to defend the public and uphold consumer protection and antitrust laws that help make life affordable for American families. Attorney General Bonta has responded by intervening when the Trump Administration allegedly greenlit the Hewlett-Packard Enterprises/Juniper Networks merger not for the public interest, but to line the pockets of its friends, and by continuing to fight for a better deal for consumers after U.S. DOJ settled days into the much-awaited Live Nation/Ticketmaster trial - an action promptly rejected by a bipartisan group of attorneys general.

Antitrust enforcement is an essential component of a healthy economy. Competitive marketplaces established through antitrust vigilance help consumers by ensuring fair prices for goods and services, an array of products to choose from, quality goods and services, and the steady introduction of innovative new products. As part of the Attorney General's commitment to enforce antitrust laws, the California Department of Justice has launched an Antitrust Complaint Form for people to report anticompetitive conduct that potentially violates the antitrust laws.