Nexstar and Tegna merger closes after receiving regulatory approval

Nexstar Media Group Closed its acquisition of the owner of a fellow broadcasting station group Tegna After receiving regulatory approval, despite antitrust lawsuits filed against the deal in recent days.

Nexstar’s $6.2 billion merger with Tegna brings together more than 260 local broadcast TV stations across the U.S.

Nexstar and Tegna, like their other broadcast group peers, are looking to merge as the industry faces the same challenges as their cable media and entertainment counterparts — namely a decline in pay-TV customers due to the rise of streaming options and technology.

“This transaction is essential to maintaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve. By bringing these two outstanding companies together, Nexstar will be a stronger, more dynamic organization – better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities and talent,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sock said in a statement.

“We are grateful to President Trump, [FCC] Chairman Carr and the Department of Justice for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and enabling this deal to move forward.”

In February, President Donald Trump endorsed the merger between Nexstar and Tegna in a post on TruthSocial after months of criticism about the potential implications of the deal.

The proposed acquisition, announced in August, was expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Broadcast station owners operate stations affiliated with major networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, and are known for broadcasting local news, sports, and other broadcast content. The companies remain profitable because of the high fees they receive from pay-TV distributors, and argued that a merger would preserve local TV news.

However, decades-old laws have prevented such mergers from occurring in recent years.

A green light from the FCC and Department of Justice allows the deal to go through by waiving a law that bars any single company from owning broadcast stations that reach more than 39% of American television households.

However, in recent days, two federal antitrust cases have been filed in a move to block the merger — one from attorneys general in eight states, including California and New York, and another from satellite and direct-TV provider DirecTV.

Both lawsuits argue that the merger is anticompetitive and will raise customer costs, reduce competition, shutter local newsrooms and cause power outages at stations due to carriage battles with distributors over pricing.

“DIRECTV supports the action taken by the states and has decided it is necessary to join this effort to protect competition and consumers,” Michael Hartman, general counsel and chief external affairs officer at DirecTV, said in a statement. “We have consistently made clear that this merger is anticompetitive and not in the public interest, and if it goes ahead, it will lead to a wave of similar mergers.”