DirecTV on Thursday filed a federal antitrust alleging that the proposed $6.2 billion Nexstar Media deal to buy rival Tegna violates the federal antitrust laws — and would significantly harm consumers.
The pay-TV provider’s suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, follows a multistate lawsuit filed in the same court by attorneys general from eight states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
The DirecTV complaint asserts that the proposed Nexstar-Tegna merger — which would combine two of the U.S.’s largest broadcast station groups — represents a concentration of broadcast media “without precedent,” and will “irreparably drive up consumer costs, reduce local competition, shutter local newsrooms, and increase both the frequency and duration of blackouts of key local teams and network programming,” according to the company.
A copy of DirecTV’s lawsuit is available at this link.
“DirecTV supports the action taken by the states and has determined it is necessary to join this effort to protect competition and consumers,” Michael Hartman, DirecTV’s general counsel and chief external affairs officer, said in a statement. “We have consistently made clear that this merger is anticompetitive and not in the public interest and, if it goes forward, will trigger a wave of similar consolidation.”
President Donald Trump supports the Nexstar-Tegna deal. Last month, Trump wrote in a post on social media, “Get that deal done!,” saying that the TV station group companies should be allowed to merge in order to “Knock out the Fake News” from the “Fake News National TV Networks.” Soon thereafter, FCC chairman Brendan Carr also responded on social media, writing, “Let’s get it done.” Carr has been public in his support for abolishing the FCC’s decades-old rule limiting TV station groups from owning outlets that reach more than 39% of U.S. households.
Nexstar currently owns 164 full-power local broadcast stations across 114 Nielsen-rated media markets, reaching approximately 70% of U.S. television households. Its acquisition of Tegna’s 64 stations would expand that reach to more than 80% of households nationally, and it would also give Nexstar ownership of two or more affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in more than 30 markets covering more than 25 million TV homes.
DirecTV noted that many of the Nexstar and Tegna stations are home to major professional or collegiate sports teams, “increasing Nexstar’s leverage to impose blackouts during carriage disputes and raise rates.” A significant number are also state capitals, where reduced competition would “limit the diversity of local news coverage,” according to DirecTV.
The complaint also alleges that the merger is likely to “exacerbate the already sharp rise in retransmission consent fees charged by local station groups,” according to DirecTV. The pay-TV provider said retrans fees have increased more than 5000% over the past two decades, from approximately $214.6 million in 2006 to an estimated $11.9 billion in 2025.
“The acquisition would give Nexstar control of 228 broadcast stations reaching 80% of television households in 132 local markets and increase concentration in dozens of local markets by more than 10 times the amount that is presumptively unlawful under the antitrust laws,” the DirecTV complaint states. “That enormous increase in market power will enable Nexstar to raise prices and reduce the amount, variety and quality of local news without having to worry about losing business to competition.”
DirecTV’s lawsuit continues: “By acquiring Tegna’s competing stations, Nexstar will deprive distributors and consumers of the benefits of competition: lower prices and higher quality. Instead, Nexstar will be able to raise prices and reduce quality. DirecTV and its subscribers will end up paying more for less. The antitrust laws forbid acquisitions that substantially lessen competition, enabling acquirers to charge more while offering less.”
DirecTV is fully owned by TPG Capital, after AT&T closed its deal to sell its 70% stake in DirecTV to TPG in July 2025.
America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects), a trade group representing small and midsize TV and broadband providers, issued a statement regarding the lawsuits challenging Nexstar’s Tegna takeover. “We agree that the proposed Nexstar-Tegna deal would hand even more market power to the nation’s largest broadcast conglomerate — power that history shows will be abused to drive up carriage fees and raise television bills for hardworking Americans,” Grant Spellmeyer, president and CEO of America’s Communications Association, said in a statement. “This further skewing of the marketplace will hit smaller cable operators and their largely rural customer base the hardest.”
SEE ALSO: Eight States Sue to Block Nexstar’s $6.2 Billion Deal for Tegna, Which Is Supported by Trump: ‘This Merger Is Illegal, Plain and Simple,’ California AG Says
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