Antitrust Lawyers at Kressin Powers Urge Federal Regulators to Kill Nexstar-TEGNA Merger

TV Merger: A new antitrust paper called on federal regulators to reject Nexstar’s proposed acquisition of TEGNA, warning that the deal would deepen media consolidation, drive up consumer costs and further erode local television news, according to a 48-page analysis by competition lawyers at Kressin Powers LLC in Washington, D.C. The Kressin Powers analysis said the transaction comes after four decades of steady consolidation that has transformed broadcast TV from a patchwork of family-owned local stations into an industry dominated by a handful of publicly traded conglomerates. Nexstar, Gray Media, Tegna, Sinclair and Scripps now control hundreds of affiliates that the analysis describes as “local” in name only. Kressin Powers partner Aaron Teitelbaum declined to say who, if anyone, funded the paper. Nor did he name the paper’s authors at the firm.

“The FCC should deny and DOJ should oppose the pending Nexstar/Tegna Merger. If approved, the proposed $6.2 billion acquisition would create by far the largest broadcasting conglomerate in history, with direct ownership of 265 stations, access to approximately 80% of U.S. households, and an increased duopoly presence in many local markets,” Kressin Powers said. Nexstar told the FCC its post-merger household reach would be 56.4%. (More after paywall.)