One of the dumbest antitrust lawsuits in recent memory — and that’s saying a lot — is the blockage of Nexstar Media Group’s $6 billion bid to acquire local news broadcaster TEGNA. The merger was approved three months ago by the antitrust cops at the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. President Donald Trump has given the deal his blessing. But now, a federal judge, along with 13 state attorneys general, is doing the bidding of rival broadcasting powerhouse DirecTV and other media giants to stall the deal in court. As a business deal, it makes all the sense in the world. Wall Street analysts estimate the economies of scale from these acquisitions will save local broadcasters roughly $300 million and keep them financially in the green.
CARR ESCALATES MEDIA CRACKDOWN AMID NEXSTAR-TEGNA BACKLASH
Ironically, a merger that should be up and running and already benefiting local broadcasters and the consumers of local news are the big losers while the mega media companies use antitrust laws to solidify their own power. The courts are siding with Goliath to prevent upstart David from competing on a fairer playing field.
The state attorneys general and federal judges have this story all backward. Local TV stations are dying. They need scale, capital injections, technology, and negotiating strength to keep their news and community programming on the airwaves. Nexstar’s strategy is to recapitalize and promote these stations instead of allowing them to completely disappear from the media landscape.
