Thirteen state Attorneys General have filed suit to block an FCC-approved merger/acquisition between two media companies that would promote fair competition while preserving high-quality local journalism and diversity of opinion. Sadly, it’s not that surprising to see Democrats oppose a large business deal, no matter how much sense it makes, but I don’t understand why three Republican AGs are going along with them.
Last year Nexstar Media Group, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire TEGNA Inc. for $6.2 billion. The resulting company would own 265 local television stations across the country, most of which are local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. These are the traditional networks that many broadcast TV viewers depend on for local news, weather forecasts, and critical information about their towns, nation, and the world.
The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice both formally reviewed and okayed the deal, with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr commenting, “The F.C.C. has been focused on empowering broadcast TV stations to serve their local communities, consistent with their public interest obligations…Today’s agency decision does exactly that.”
That’s true. The alliance with TEGNA would enhance Nexstar’s position as a leading local media company, supporting community journalism and strengthening their ability to compete with Big Tech and Big Media. In a world where broadcast networks, that used to vie mostly with each other to attract viewers now have to compete with everything from cable to streaming services to social media, this deal could be essential to the survival of many local news and programming outlets.
Right on cue, every time two productive American companies announce a merger to grow stronger and compete harder, the left launches into predictable outrage. They can't grasp a basic truth: businesses that are free to scale, invest, and compete are exactly what drives prices down and quality up for ordinary consumers.
Consequently, Democratic AGs in eight states including California, New York, and Virginia filed suit against the approved merger, alleging antitrust violations. Others joined in to bring the total up to 13, with the surprising addition of Republican AGs from Indiana, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. Those three should know better.
This deal will support local media infrastructure, bolstering public safety, small businesses, and fact-based journalism. The FCC and DOJ did the right thing to approve it and state AGs looking to kill the deal are doing a disservice to their constituents.
The opposing AGs are joined in legal action by another media company – private equity-owned DirectTV – that is a competitor to Nexstar. There is little doubt that DirecTV would love to strengthen its negotiating position in the industry and weaking the opposition is one sure way to do it. Accusing even an expanded Nexstar of being a monopoly, when DirecTV is twice its size and other major players such as Google and Amazon are multitrillion dollar companies, is simply laughable.
Democratic AGs should see the light here too. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones cited a statistic in his statement on joining the lawsuit, correctly pointing out that over 65% of Virginians trust the accuracy of local news reporting, compared to just 46% for national news. He thought he was making an argument for blocking the merger but in reality he was doing just the opposite.
Getting out of the way of the Nexstar/TEGNA deal would give Virginians – and all other Americans – better access to the broadcast programming they want and deserve.