Attorney General Tong Secures Victory on Nexstar/TEGNA Motion

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08/06/2026

Attorney General Tong Secures Victory on Nexstar/TEGNA Motion

Court Calls Nexstar's Attempt to Take Over TEGNA Despite Court Order "Shocking" and "Brazen"

(Hartford, CT) - Attorney General William Tong today issued the following statement after a court granted the States' motion raising concerns about actions by TEGNA Inc. (TEGNA) and Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nexstar) that violate the court's hold-separate order. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California found that Nexstar is violating the preliminary injunction by putting current or former Nexstar executives on TEGNA's Board of Directors and ordered the companies to provide regular reporting to the States. The court also ordered that a special master be appointed to oversee compliance with the preliminary injunction. A Nexstar/TEGNA merger would be expected to create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, put more broadcast programming in the hands of fewer people, cut local jobs, increase cable bills, and significantly impact the delivery of news and other media content to Americans nationwide.

"The court rightly called Nexstar's conduct 'shocking' and 'brazen.' Instead of respecting a court order while the States challenged this merger, Nexstar thought it could carry on as if the rules didn't apply. No company is above the law, and today's ruling proves it," said Attorney General Tong.

If allowed to proceed, this multibillion-dollar deal would combine the nation's largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates, creating a titan covering 80% of U.S. television households.

In Connecticut, Nexstar would control approximately 64% of the "Big Four" network television market, one of the largest post-merger increases in Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a well-established method for measuring market concentration. The loss of competition between Nexstar and TEGNA will also likely lead to the consolidation of local television newsrooms. In Connecticut, it would mean Nexstar's News 8 would combine with TEGNA's Fox 61, leaving only NBC CT and Eyewitness News 3 as independent.

Alarmingly, in the weeks leading up to the merger's closing, reports detailed Nexstar's firing of long-standing journalists in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. The trial in this case is scheduled for July 6, 2027.

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Elizabeth Benton [email protected]

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