Two months and one week ago, just hours after the Department of Justice and the FCC each granted their respective regulatory approvals, a monumental rule-busting merger seemingly reached the finish line. Nexstar Media Group, already the nation’s No. 1 owner by TV station count, had closed on its merger of TEGNA.
Then the court challenges came. Sacramento-based Chief U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley issued a preliminary injunction preventing TEGNA from being anything to Nexstar but a “hold separate” entity, which Nexstar is appealing to the Ninth Circuit. Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit is the venue where Nexstar’s legal team has argued the court lacks jurisdiction as the full FCC hasn’t yet voted on a decision made under delegated authority by the Media Bureau.
As the court challenges continue, TEGNA’s status as an independently run organization has now been addressed. There’s now a successor to Mike Steib, and it is an individual who spent years under Jack Abernethy.
