DirecTV escalated the legal battle against one of the most controversial media mergers in recent memory on Thursday, filing a federal antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California seeking to permanently block Nexstar Media Group’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna. The move came less than 24 hours after attorneys general from eight states filed their own suit in the same court, making the Sacramento federal courthouse the new battlefield for the future of American local television.
The satellite and streaming pay-TV provider, now fully owned by private equity firm TPG Capital following AT&T’s complete exit from the company last July, argues that the deal would produce a level of broadcast media concentration with no historical parallel in the United States. Nexstar currently owns 164 full-power local broadcast stations across 114 Nielsen-rated media markets, reaching approximately 70% of U.S. television households. Adding Tegna’s 64 stations would push that figure past 80% of households nationally — roughly double the current federal ownership cap of 39%.
“DIRECTV supports the action taken by the states and has determined it is necessary to join this effort to protect competition and consumers,” said Michael Hartman, general counsel and chief external affairs officer at DIRECTV. “We have consistently made clear that this merger is anti-competitive and not in the public interest and, if it goes forward, will trigger a wave of similar consolidation.”
The combined entity would also control two or more affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in more than 30 markets covering more than 25 million TV homes — a level of Big Four network dominance that DirecTV says would fundamentally tip the balance of power in carriage negotiations against distributors and, ultimately, against consumers.
At the heart of DirecTV’s complaint is the question of retransmission consent fees — the payments cable and satellite providers make to local broadcast stations for the right to carry their signals. Those fees have surged more than 5,000% over the past two decades, climbing from approximately $214.6 million in 2006 to an estimated $11.9 billion in 2025. DirecTV argues that handing Nexstar command of 228 broadcast stations across 132 local markets would give the company extraordinary leverage to push those fees even higher, with the cost ultimately passed on to subscribers through higher monthly bills.
The lawsuit argues the acquisition would increase concentration in more than a dozen local markets by more than ten times the threshold considered presumptively unlawful under federal antitrust law.
The legal challenge also zeroes in on the deal’s likely damage to local journalism. In dozens of markets where Nexstar and Tegna currently operate competing stations, the merged company would run a single newsroom instead of two, employ a single staff, and present a single editorial viewpoint — eliminating the independent reporting competition that those communities currently benefit from. Attorneys general and DirecTV alike point to Nexstar’s established pattern of consolidating newsrooms whenever it acquires stations in markets where it already has a presence.
There are 31 markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna each own at least one station meaning those are precisely the communities where advocates say the loss of a competing newsroom would be felt most acutely — particularly in state capitals, where diverse local political coverage is considered especially critical.
DirecTV’s filing closely aligns with the multistate lawsuit lodged Wednesday by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia. California Attorney General Rob Bonta characterized the proposed merger as illegal, warning it would lead to higher pay-TV prices and a reduction in newsroom jobs as the combined company jointly operated stations in shared markets. New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, warned that cable prices would spike for consumers both in New York and across the country, and left the door open for additional states — including those led by Republican attorneys general — to join the litigation.
The deal has received a notably warm reception from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the merger in February, writing on social media that the country needs more competition against what he called the fake news national TV networks. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has also signaled his support for the transaction and indicated the commission would move forward with its review, while simultaneously advocating for loosening the federal ownership caps that the deal would require waiving.
Nexstar, for its part, has maintained that the acquisition is necessary to help it compete more effectively against larger legacy media conglomerates and the deep-pocketed technology platforms increasingly vying for television audiences and advertising dollars. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The America’s Communications Association, a trade group representing small and midsize cable and broadband providers, also voiced opposition, warning that the deal would hand Nexstar even greater market power that history suggests will be used to drive up carriage fees — with the impact falling hardest on smaller cable operators serving largely rural communities.
With the FCC signaling openness to approval, the outcome of the lawsuits in Sacramento may ultimately determine whether the merger proceeds — and whether millions of American television subscribers see their monthly bills rise as a result.
Please add Cord Cutters News as a source for your Google News feed HERE. Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.