Minutes before a Temporary Restraining Order issued by Sacramento-based Chief U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley was to expire after two weeks, a preliminary injunction preventing Nexstar Media Group from fully melding TEGNA Inc.‘s assets with its own has been issued.
It takes effect on Tuesday, and it yielded an immediate response from Anna M. Gómez, the Democratic FCC Commissioner who has spoken out against the approval on delegated authority with waivers of the deal by the Media Bureau.
The order preserves the status quo of the TRO, with a strict prohibition of Nexstar from integrating TEGNA’s television stations and Premion unit “pending adjudication on the merits.”
The preliminary injunction will take effect at 5pm Pacific on Tuesday (4/21) — 30 minutes after Nexstar Chairman/CEO Perry Sook is scheduled to conclude his participation in a 2026 NAB Show session with Deborah Norville focused on “The Evolving Paradigm of Broadcast News.”
To put the wheels in motion, plaintiffs DirecTV and the states of Colorado, California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio are to post security totaling $10,000 with the Clerk of the Court within 14 days of today’s Order.
Then, the plaintiffs may file separate amended complaints by April 30.
At issue is the belief that Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA violates § 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18. With that the crux of the plaintiffs’ argument, a “hold-separate” directive was handed to TEGNA and Nexstar in the TRO. Then on April 7 came oral arguments to allow Nunley, an appointee of President Obama, to rule if a preliminary injunction should be ordered. DirecTV fueled its discussion with its belief that Nexstar’s TEGNA purchase will drive up retransmission consent fees that the direct broadcast satellite TV service provider will end up paying Nexstar. Then there is the argument that local news competition will be lessened, something FCC Commissioner Gomez has bemoaned along with other detractors of industry consolidation.
Those held sway with Nunley.
TO VIEW THE ORDER ISSUING THE PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION, CLICK HERE.
NEXSTAR: ‘WE WILL APPEAL’
While Troy Nunley’s ruling prevents Nexstar from moving forward with its rule-busting TEGNA acquisition, the company is hardly sitting still and accepting that as its final fate.
“We will appeal today’s decision and look forward to presenting our case on its merits before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,” the company said in a statement issued at 9:35pm Eastern Friday.
In prepared comments, Nexstar added, “This transaction closed more than four weeks ago following receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps consistent with the Court order that has been in effect. For nearly thirty years, Nexstar has provided free over-the-air access to all its broadcast stations — local news, weather, and community-focused programming alongside major network programming. This procompetitive transaction will make local stations stronger and support continued investment in local journalism and fact-based news.”
GOMEZ CHEERS NUNLEY ORDER
The lone Democrat serving as an FCC Commissioner welcomed the court’s decision to pause the Nexstar-TEGNA transaction “and bring much-needed scrutiny to a deeply flawed approval process.”
Reiterating previous comments, Gómez said, “What we saw here was a coordinated, multi-agency effort to avoid accountability and judicial review, culminating in a same-day clearance, approval, and closing designed to shield the public from the real harms of this unprecedented merger.”
Further, using tart language, Gómez assailed the Commission and other government agencies for using “what is now recognized as the ‘Billionaire Buddy Bypass’ to grant expedited, closed-door approval to powerful friends of this administration.”
Thus, Gómez believes Nunley’s ruling “is an important step toward restoring accountability and ensuring that decisions of this magnitude are made with consumers in mind, not billion-dollar companies cutting backroom deals out of public view.”
