Judge extends Nexstar/Tegna block

A federal judge in Sacramento kept Nexstar from fully folding Tegna into its business for another week while he weighs a longer injunction. (wtvbam.com) United States District Judge Troy Nunley extended the temporary restraining order on April 10 after first issuing it on March 27. The order keeps Tegna operating as a separate business unit while the court decides whether to grant a preliminary injunction. (wtvbam.com) Nunley also loosened parts of the freeze. He allowed Nexstar to make ordinary-course debt, salary and operating payments tied to the transaction, but barred broader business integration and limits on sharing sensitive Tegna information largely remain in place. (thedesk.net) The deal is large enough that even the price tag needs two numbers. Nexstar values the acquisition at about $3.54 billion in equity, while broader reports put the transaction at about $6.2 billion including assumed debt. (nexstar.tv) (wtvbam.com) Nexstar said it closed the purchase on March 19 after approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Department of Justice. The Federal Communications Commission’s March 19 order covered Tegna’s 64 full-power television stations and noted Nexstar sought waivers because the combined company would serve 54.5% of the national audience under the agency’s ownership formula. (nexstar.tv) (docs.fcc.gov 1) (docs.fcc.gov 2) The court fight continued after those federal approvals. DirecTV sued on March 19, and California, New York and six other states moved to stop the merger, arguing the combined company would gain leverage to demand higher carriage fees from pay television distributors and cut local competition. (prnewswire.com) (oag.ca.gov) At an April 7 hearing, lawyers for DirecTV and the states told Nunley that market share in some areas would top 50% and that higher retransmission fees would be passed through to viewers. They also argued the merger would reduce newsroom competition and increase duplication of local news. (courthousenews.com) Nexstar answered that scale is needed to keep local television competitive against streaming services and shrinking advertising revenue. Its lawyer, Alexander Okuliar, told the court the merger would improve efficiency and help preserve local broadcast news rather than weaken it. (wtvbam.com) (courthousenews.com) The ownership math explains why the case reaches beyond one transaction. Nexstar was already the largest local television station owner in the country, and the Federal Communications Commission filing said the combined company would need waivers in 23 designated market areas where it proposed to own more than two full-power stations. (docs.fcc.gov) (thedesk.net))) For now, the merger is closed on paper but not integrated in practice. The next court ruling will decide whether Nexstar can start combining Tegna’s stations and systems, or whether the separation order stays in place while the antitrust case moves ahead. (wtvbam.com)