Nexstar expedited – Nexstar is asking the Ninth Circuit for an expedited appeal after a federal judge paused its $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, calling the injunction a “straightjacket” that could inflict “profound harms” and hinder broadcasters’ ability to compete.
For Nexstar, the fight over its $6.2 billion merger with Tegna isn’t just about antitrust claims anymore. It’s about the pace—and the reach—of the freeze.
On Wednesday evening, Nexstar requested an expedited appeal with the Ninth Circuit, pushing back against a federal judge’s preliminary injunction that paused the transaction. In the filing, the company described the injunction as a “straightjacket” that risks “profound harms” to Tegna.
Nexstar also argued that keeping the merger tied up in a long legal battle could “lock Tegna stations into an outdated structure that was already under substantial strain,” adding that it would make it more likely Tegna “will not survive while waiting for the transaction to be vindicated.”
In a companion brief filed alongside the request, Nexstar went further, blasting the U.S. District Court’s decision as an “overstep.” The company said the ruling affects “stations, operations and corporate functions that have nothing to do with plaintiffs’ alleged harms.”
“The Court should narrow the preliminary injunction to match the law and what plaintiffs actually allege,” Nexstar said. “Plaintiffs fell far short of their burden for the extraordinary relief of a preliminary injunction of any kind, let alone one this sweeping.”
Nexstar framed the legal timing as a concrete problem for the broadcasters. During the trial. it said. “the full evidentiary record will defeat plaintiffs’ claims.” But the company argued the defendants cannot wait for trial to challenge the scope of the injunction. “With each passing day. the injunction’s unnecessary breadth inflicts unrecoverable harm. ” Nexstar wrote. adding that it “degrades the very assets it purports to protect.”.
The company also tied its opposition to a larger view of who has leverage in the media business. In comments to TheWrap on Wednesday. a Nexstar spokesperson said. “The plaintiffs’ claims reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the modern media landscape in which companies like Nexstar and TEGNA are dwarfed by Big Tech. which has unlimited reach. bottomless resources. and unchecked influence.”.
The spokesperson said Nexstar is “looking forward to presenting our case at trial” and “exposing just how weak. cynical. and misguided” the claims are. At the same time. Nexstar said its appeal focuses on narrowing an “overly broad preliminary injunction” that it says goes beyond what plaintiffs allege—hindering broadcasters’ ability to compete and adding uncertainty for an industry “already under significant pressure.”.
“At a moment when the future of local journalism is at stake, keeping broadcasters from achieving the scale needed to compete only serves to strengthen the dominance of Big Tech and accelerate the erosion of local news in the communities we serve,” the spokesperson added.
Nexstar’s filing comes amid a broader challenge to the deal. The company said it is responding to a lawsuit filed by DirecTV and multiple state attorneys general that sought to disrupt its merger with Tegna.
A month earlier, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley had put the $6.2 billion merger on ice, concluding that the deal would hinder competition by violating antitrust laws.
Even before this injunction, Nexstar had positioned the transaction as already completed. A Nexstar spokesperson previously told TheWrap that the company appealed the decision after the transaction closed “more than four weeks ago” following receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. The spokesperson said Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps “consistent with the Court order that has been in effect.”.
Nexstar also described its pro-competitive case in terms of local broadcasting access. saying it has provided “free over-the-air access to all its broadcast stations — local news. weather. and community-focused programming alongside major network programming.” The company said the transaction would make local stations stronger and “support continued investment in local journalism and fact-based news.”.
The stakes aren’t abstract, either, when viewed through the deal’s original footprint. Under the original terms. Nexstar would have had 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. representing a reach of 80% of U.S. television households. The combined company would have added Big-4 affiliate stations in Phoenix. Atlanta. Toledo and Portland. with stations in nine of the top 10 markets and 41 of the top 50.
To get the deal approved, Nexstar agreed to divest six stations across six different DMAs and made commitments to affordability and localism.
Approval also depended on the 39% national TV ownership cap Congress put in place in 2004 to protect viewpoint diversity and prevent monopolization. Nexstar’s path required raising or eliminating that cap. Instead of modifying the ownership rules. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr granted the companies a waiver and defended that decision. saying it would empower broadcast TV stations and foster local journalism.
Now Nexstar is asking the Ninth Circuit to step in quickly—not just to consider the merits, but to narrow an injunction it says is broader than necessary and damaging while the legal fight drags on.
Nexstar Tegna merger injunction Ninth Circuit antitrust DirecTV state attorneys general Troy Nunley Brendan Carr FCC waiver local journalism