The Federal Communications Commission announced yesterday (Thursday) that it has approved local television giant Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion takeover of Tysons-based rival Tegna.
Earlier that same day, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and his counterparts in seven other states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, arguing that the merger will illegally reduce competition in journalism and the broadcasting industry while resulting in increased prices and worker layoffs.
“Our free press is under constant threat from Donald Trump, and Virginians simply cannot afford to lose more independent local news voices,” Jones said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “Unfortunately, we already know what happens when Nexstar comes to town to buy local television stations – stations close, jobs are cut, and local news quality is reduced.”
Nexstar announced last August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and D.C., most of them local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the company had agreed to divest itself of six of those stations.
The deal needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations that one company can own. Nexstar said it had also received approval from the Justice Department, but attempts to independently confirm that were not immediately successful Thursday.
“We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and allowing this transaction to move forward,” said Perry Sook, Nexstar’s chairman and CEO.
In approving the deal, Carr said that “if you care about local news, you should care about the future of local broadcast stations.” He said the deal will ensure that the broadcasters have the resources to continue investing in those operations.
Sook, too, said Nexstar will be a stronger company, “better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming.”
Television distributor DirecTV also filed a lawsuit challenging the merger.
“Nexstar’s purpose in acquiring Tegna is to drive up the price it can extract from DirecTV and other distributors, which will force them to raise prices to their subscribers,” the company said.
Nexstar said the deal would allow it to compete more effectively with richer legacy media companies and Big Tech, but Jones contends that, by creating the largest broadcast station owner in the U.S., the consolidation will harm both journalism and consumers. He noted that Nexstar already controls three major TV affiliates in Norfolk alone.
There are 31 markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna own at least one station, according to the attorneys generals’ lawsuit. That includes the D.C. region, where Nexstar owns DC News Now, an affiliate of the CW Network, while Tegna’s brands include WUSA9, the local CBS affiliate.
“Trust that is built by the independent local news voices heard in homes throughout Virginia every day,” Jones said, citing a University of Virginia survey where 65% of respondents expressed confidence in the fairness and accuracy of local news media compared to 46% for national outlets.
“When stations close and those voices are eliminated, ties to the community become strained or broken altogether,” he continued. “Virginians deserve to get their news from the diverse, community-focused reporting that they trust, not recycled content created to serve only the bottom line.”
Jones was joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general for California, Colorado, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, North Carolina and Oregon. All of the states bringing the suits are represented by Democrats, but the group said they’re open to having other states support their actions — even those whose chief legal officials are Republicans.
Nexstar had no direct comment on the lawsuits, a spokesman said. Tegna didn’t respond to a request for comment from FFXnow by press time.
The merger was endorsed in February by President Donald Trump, who wrote on social media that “we need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks.”
Anna Gomez, a Democratic member of the FCC, condemned the Republican-controlled agency’s decision, saying it was done behind closed doors without an actual vote.
“Local journalism is under extraordinary strain,” she said. “Across the country newsrooms are being consolidated, reporters laid off and editorial decisions made far from the communities broadcast stations are licensed to serve. The Nexstar-Tegna merger will accelerate exactly that trend, concentrating broadcast power in fewer corporate hands, shrinking independent editorial voices and prioritizing national business interests over local needs.”
Nexstar flexed its muscles last fall in ordering its ABC stations to yank late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following comments he made about assassinated Republican activist Charlie Kirk, briefly leading to Kimmel’s suspension. But ABC brought Kimmel back following an outcry, and Nexstar backed down.
When announcing the attorney generals’ lawsuit, Jones anticipated that the Trump administration would do little to challenge Nexstar and Tegna’s merger, pointing to social media comments by Trump and Carr as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent settlement with Ticketmaster owner Live Nation.
A trial over Live Nation’s alleged monopoly on music ticket sales is still ongoing after 30 state attorneys general, including Jones, rejected the settlement. The DOJ had sued Live Nation under then-President Joe Biden in 2024, accusing the company of stifling competition and jacking up prices.
“The Trump Administration has shown states and consumers that it is more concerned with protecting corporate interests than doing its job to defend the public and uphold consumer protection and antitrust laws that help make life affordable for American families,” Jones said.
Based at Boro Tower (8350 Broad Street) for about a decade after separating from Gannett in 2015, Tegna appears to have officially relocated its headquarters to the Highline at Greensboro offices, listing 8401 Greensboro Drive, Suite 300, as its address on its website.
The Washington Business Journal reported in September that the broadcaster had finalized a lease last July for 23,000 square feet at the Highline — a major downsizing from the 46,000 square feet it occupied in Boro Tower.
It’s unclear exactly when Tegna moved out, but a leasing site for The Boro’s 20-story office tower had advertised that the 19th and 20th floors would become available on March 1, 2026. Now, the entirety of both floors are available for rent starting at $74 per square foot for a year, though the marketing site still identifies Tegna as a “notable tenant” of Boro Tower.
The Meridian Group, the developer behind The Boro, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but according to the WBJ’s September report, the property owner was “already in discussions” with potential new tenants, and even without Tegna, the office tower would still be almost 90% leased.
