Newsmax and a coalition of six state cable and broadband associations launched an emergency federal court challenge on Saturday to the FCC’s approval of Nexstar Media Group’s merger with TEGNA, escalating a fast-moving legal fight over what opponents describe as the largest broadcast consolidation in U.S. history.
In filings at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the groups submitted both an emergency motion for a stay and a separate emergency petition for a writ of mandamus, asking the court to freeze further integration of the Nexstar deal and intervene immediately.
The coalition argued that the FCC’s Media Bureau approved the transfer of TEGNA’s broadcast licenses to Nexstar late last Thursday and that Nexstar publicly announced the deal closed roughly 15 minutes later, before opponents could secure meaningful judicial review.
Those filings followed an emergency petition filed Friday at the FCC seeking a stay, claiming the Commission—led by Chairman Brendan Carr—had overstepped its power by approving the deal using an administrative department.
According to court documents, the parties asked Carr and the Commission to halt the Media Bureau’s order and requested action by Saturday at 3 p.m., warning that if the FCC did not act, they would treat the request as denied and proceed to court. The filings state the Commission had not acted by late Saturday afternoon when emergency papers were filed in Washington.
“Brendan Carr’s decision to rubber-stamp this deal opens the door to the most massive TV consolidation in history—and is an affront to both legal process and the rule of law,” Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy stated.
Ruddy noted that President Reagan established the national TV ownership cap to prevent big networks from owning every TV station in the nation and controlling local news. The cap, later codified into law, has long held strong bipartisan support in Congress and national polls.
DIRECTV also entered the D.C. case Saturday on the side of the challengers, stating that the merger would give Nexstar coverage of more than 80% of U.S. households—conflicting with the 39% national audience reach limit set by Congress. The satellite provider added that if allowed, the transaction would leave the new company controlling two of ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates in 27 markets after divestitures, with another affiliate added in a 28th market. DIRECTV warned increased leverage could allow Nexstar to raise prices to distributors, costs passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, a coalition of eight state attorneys general led by California filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in federal court in the Eastern District of California, seeking to halt merger integration while antitrust litigation proceeds. The states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia—argued the transaction would reduce competition in local broadcast markets, increase retransmission fees charged to cable and satellite providers, weaken local journalism, reduce diverse voices, and raise prices for consumers.
The D.C. District Court challengers include Newsmax, the six cable and broadband associations, and a broader opposition coalition that also participated before the FCC. Opponents contend the FCC handled the transaction with unusual speed and an unusual process. In the D.C. mandamus filing, the appellants claim the Media Bureau—rather than the full Commission—rushed the $6.2 billion deal through in less than four months, far short of the FCC’s ordinary 180-day review timeline for complex mergers. They also noted there was no apparent review at the Department of Justice, in blatant disregard of its legal role.
The filing argues the bureau lacked authority to decide such “novel questions of law, fact or policy,” especially because the merger turned on waiving the statutory 39% ownership cap and granting sweeping local-market waivers. The core legal argument is that Congress fixed the national television ownership cap at 39% in the 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act and that the FCC cannot simply waive it for a politically favored merger. The D.C. filings state the Commission has previously acknowledged its lack of authority to waive that cap and historically required divestitures instead.
That argument has resonated strongly among conservative critics, with opposition centered on statutory law: the FCC cannot rewrite congressional law by administrative waiver. Prior to court filings, Newsmax, CPAC, the National Religious Broadcasters, OAN, and the Zionist Organization of America publicly argued that one broadcaster should not be allowed to control local TV—especially local news programming—reaching 80% of American households as the Nexstar deal seeks to do. These groups stated such concentration threatens viewpoint diversity, local control, and independent competitors.
In court filings, challengers argued the combined company would have the power to demand ever-higher retransmission fees, push up consumer bills, and concentrate control over news, sports, and emergency programming. More than 40 House Republicans warned the FCC lacked authority to alter the 39% cap set by Congress.
A merged Nexstar would hold the biggest reach of any TV group in U.S. history—controlling 260 stations across 44 states. The combined Nexstar-TEGNA would own more TV stations than those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX combined. Nexstar is a decidedly liberal media company with a news channel, NewsNation, that carries a lineup of left-wing hosts led by Chris Cuomo in prime time. In the 2024 election, nearly 80% of its employee donations for the presidential race went to Democrat Kamala Harris.
