A federal judge in Washington has temporarily blocked broadcast giant Nexstar from integrating Tegna’s operations while the court examines whether their massive $3.54 billion merger violates federal competition laws.
District Judge Troy Nunley issued the restraining order on Friday evening, requiring Nexstar to maintain Tegna’s assets as a separate entity during the legal review. The two companies had rapidly completed their transaction following approval from both the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission on March 19.
The judicial intervention stems from a federal competition lawsuit brought by satellite television provider DirecTV. The company contends the massive consolidation will cause significant harm to consumers by driving up programming costs, eliminating local market competition, forcing the closure of community newsrooms, and leading to more frequent and longer-lasting blackouts during broadcasts of popular local sports programming.
