Sen. Elizabeth Warren has taken aim at Nexstar and Tegna’s $6.2 billion merger, warning in a new letter that the combined entity would “likely raise prices for consumers, accelerate job losses, and weaken the independence and news coverage of local TV stations.”
She also said the move is “presumptively illegal” because the combined company would reach 80% of U.S. TV households, exceeding the FCC’s 39% national cap on station ownership.
Warren urged the Department of Justice’s antitrust chief Gail Slater and FCC chairman Brendan Carr to scrutinize the deal, including by holding public hearings, and potentially block it if it’s found to violate federal telecommunications or antitrust laws by lessening competition or not serving the public interest.
Under the terms of the deal, Nexstar and Tegna will have a combined portfolio of 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. It would also have stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50.
“The approval of a Nexstar-Tegna deal will entrench Nexstar’s existing market dominance in local TV markets across the United States, some of which are already duopolies,” Warren said. “A Nexstar-Tegna conglomerate would control two of the top — and in some cases, three — local TV stations in Sacramento, St. Louis, Denver, Scranton, Des Moines, Knoxville, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Minneapolis, among many other major media markets.”
She also said the combined Nexstar-Tegna would have increased leverage to extract favorable terms with pay TV distributors and advertisers and drive up prices on retransmission consent fees and could lead to blackouts across an increased number of stations.
“The costs of these changes would be passed on to subscribers to cable and satellite services, who have already seen two decades of price increases on “signals that are otherwise free over the air,” Warren continued.
Additionally, Warren warned that more industry consolidation would result in local newsroom layoffs and a reduction in the diversity of news coverage. She pointed to multiple M&A deals that have led to job cuts, including Nexstar’s acquisition of Tribune in 2019, E.W. Scripps’ acquisition of ION Media Group in 2020 and Skydance’s merger with Paramount Global that closed in August.
Per the letter, there are 35 markets where Nexstar and Tegna both control stations that can be folded if their merger is approved. The deal is expected to generate approximately $300 million in cost savings. Warren also claimed that Nexstar is the “largest duplicator of news content today” and that the combination could reduce the diversity of coverage offered by stations across the country by accelerating a “homogenization of content.”
In the letter, Warren called out Carr’s comments in which he threatened to take action against Jimmy Kimmel for remarks the late night host made about Charlie Kirk. After he warned that the regulator could “do this the easy way or the hard way,” Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Kimmel from their ABC affiliate stations’ airwaves.
“While Nexstar has since resumed airing the show, the episode reveals the Trump Administration’s ability and apparent willingness to influence industry behavior, particularly when regulatory approvals are at stake,” Warren said.”For this reason, it is imperative that the government clearly and transparently enforce laws that protect consumers, free from political influence or backroom deals.”
Carr and FCC commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty are set to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee in a Wednesday hearing that will “conduct oversight of the Federal Communications Commission” following the Kimmel incident.
Warren also referenced the agency’s decision to advance its review of broadcast ownership rule reform, including potentially modifying or eliminating the 39% cap. The current rule, which was first implemented in 1941 and was raised by Congress in 2004, is designed to ensure viewpoint diversity and prevent monopolization.
In addition to asking for public input on broadcast ownership rule reform, the FCC is currently seeking public input on the Nexstar-Tegna merger itself. Warren called on the agency to “abandon its attempt to circumvent Congress to change broadcast ownership rules” and said it should “refrain from issuing a waiver to give Nexstar and Tegna permission to disregard the cap.”
“As the FCC conducts its review of the deal, we urge the agency to heed the statutory language and purpose of media ownership rules in promoting localism and diversity, and ensuring that families across the country can watch local news that is relevant to their community rather than news that has been dictated by a centralized broadcasting giant,” she added.
The letter is signed by Warren, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Representatives Summer Lee (D-PA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and Doris Matsui (D-CA). The latter is ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications & Technology in the House of Representatives.
