Public-Interest Coalition Urges D.C. Circuit to Halt FCC Approval of Unlawful Nexstar Merger

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press and allies asserted that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had rigged the system to avoid federal appeals-court scrutiny of the unlawful Nexstar-Tegna merger. 

In a May 18 brief, Free Press, the Communications Workers of America, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, Inc., and Public Knowledge told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the FCC had taken actions designed to frustrate the court’s review of the agency’s merger-approval decision. The brief also explained how Nexstar has tried to move forward with its proposed takeover of Tegna without allowing time for judicial review of the transaction. 

“The order approving the transfer of TEGNA’s licenses to Nexstar is plainly unlawful,” the appellants argue in the brief. “The FCC’s and Nexstar’s gambits cannot insulate this merger — which would far exceed the limits that Congress imposed — from judicial review.” The appellants urge the court to make  the full Commission review the Media Bureau’s order and facilitate the D.C. Circuit’s review of this unlawful FCC decision. Lawyers at Democracy Forward are representing the public-interest coalition in the case.

If allowed to proceed, the merger would let Nexstar own or operate 265 full-power television stations reaching more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. This is more than double the 39 percent national ownership limit that Congress set. In many markets, Nexstar would control half or more of all commercial stations that air English-language news, further limiting options in already concentrated markets. 

Matt Wood, Free Press’ vice president of policy and general counsel, said:

“The FCC’s politically motivated approval of the Nexstar-Tegna merger makes a mockery of the rules Congress created to prevent broadcast-television monopolies. The most offensive trick in FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s arsenal is the claim that FCC underlings can bless a transaction and let the merger proponents close the deal — yet somehow that decision isn’t final for purposes of appellate-court review. As our pleadings in this case make clear, Trump’s FCC chairman celebrates this decision he ordered, yet still has the gall to go to court and say the decision isn’t final enough for appeal.

“Despite what Carr and these two massive broadcasters claim, this deal won’t provide communities with better news coverage. Mergers of this size raise consumer prices while slashing the companies’ costs, which means firing reporters and centralizing the production of top-down and watered-down news repeated by multiple stations. 

“Nexstar cares more about pleasing a censorship-happy Trump administration than providing truthful news and information to people across the country. Nexstar obediently answered Carr’s call to censor when it pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program from its lineup in 2025. It also fired a journalist whose reporting angered President Trump. 

“The harms will be immense if a broadcast giant like Nexstar is allowed to control even more local-news media. Congress rightly made broadcast TV-station consolidation of this scale illegal. That’s why we’ve asked the D.C. Circuit to stop this unlawful merger, and to reject Brendan Carr’s scheme to let the deal go ahead while shielding it from court review. And it’s why we’re committed to fighting the ongoing takeover of U.S. media by interests that are beholden to an authoritarian president — and care little about serving the needs of a diverse democracy.”