A federal judge in Sacramento issued an injunction on Friday that temporarily prevented the television giant Nexstar from combining its operations with the station group Tegna, the latest skirmish in a legal war for local airwaves.
Troy L. Nunley, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, said in his ruling that Nexstar, another station owner, would have to take steps to remain separate from Tegna pending further court proceedings. “Nexstar must permit Tegna to continue operating as a separate and distinct, independently managed business unit from Nexstar, and Nexstar must put measures in place to maintain Tegna as an ongoing, economically viable, and active competitor,” Judge Nunley wrote.
Nexstar and Tegna, two of the largest television groups in the United States, agreed to merge last year in a $6.2 billion deal that put scores of stations under the umbrella of Nexstar, the biggest local broadcaster in the industry. The deal secured approval from government regulators, who had argued it would provide a counterweight to national TV programmers.
Others disagreed. DirecTV, a major satellite TV provider, filed a lawsuit to block the merger, saying it would drive up consumer costs and reduce local competition. A group of states, including California, Colorado and Oregon, also sued on similar grounds.
Nexstar responded to the ruling Friday night with a statement saying its merger with Tegna had been completed four weeks ago after it had received approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.
“Nexstar Media Group now owns Tegna,” the statement said.
Litigation in the antitrust lawsuit remains in progress. In his order, Judge Nunley said he would permit DirecTV and the coalition of states to revise their complaints by the end of the month.
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
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