2026年4月17日 / 美国东部时间晚上10:22 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
一名联邦法官已叫停地方电视巨头Nexstar传媒集团与竞争对手Tegna价值62亿美元的合并交易，直至相关反垄断诉讼审结。
加州萨克拉门托的美国联邦地区法院首席法官特洛伊·L·纳利于周五下午晚些时候作出该裁决，认定八名州总检察长和直播电视平台DirecTV很可能在阻止这笔交易的法律诉讼中胜诉。
这笔于去年宣布并已获得美国联邦通信委员会批准的交易，将组建一家在44个州和哥伦比亚特区拥有265家电视台的公司，其中大部分是美国“四大”全国性广播电视网——美国广播公司（ABC）、哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）、福克斯广播公司（Fox）和全国广播公司（NBC）的地方附属台。
纳利此前已发布紧急命令，叫停该交易三周。4月7日，他就是否应将叫停令延长至八州总检察长和DirecTV提起的诉讼审结为止进行了听证。
这些均为民主党人的州总检察长以及DirecTV认为，此次合并将导致消费者支付更高费用、压制地方新闻业，且该交易违反了旨在防止垄断的联邦法律。
“将数百家地方电视台整合到同一企业所有者麾下，将意味着消费者需要支付更高费用，同时节目质量也会下降，”纽约州总检察长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯在裁决公布后的一份声明中表示。“Nexstar与Tegna的合并非法消除了竞争，今天我们在执法、阻止这笔交易推进的努力中取得了关键胜利。”
Nexstar的律师在法庭上表示，这笔交易已接受联邦通信委员会和司法部的审查并获得批准。他们称，联邦通信委员会的命令要求该公司扩大地方新闻和节目制作，而非缩减规模。
Nexstar在一份声明中表示，将对周五的裁决提起上诉。
“在获得联邦通信委员会和美国司法部的所有必要监管批准后，这笔交易已于四周前完成，”Nexstar称。“Nexstar传媒集团现已拥有Tegna，并已采取符合目前生效的法院命令的相关措施。”
这笔合并需要当时共和党特朗普政府时期的联邦通信委员会批准，因为政府不得不放宽对一家公司可拥有的地方电视台数量限制。联邦通信委员会主席布伦丹·卡尔于3月表示，该公司已同意剥离六家电视台。
法官在紧急临时限制令中指出，此次合并将使Nexstar在31个地方电视市场中拥有两家甚至三家“四大”地方附属台。纳利写道，一旦出现这种情况，像DirecTV这样的多频道视频节目发行商就必须遵从Nexstar提高转播费的要求，否则可能导致订阅用户无法收看周日美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）的比赛等内容。
Judge blocks Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna until antitrust suit resolved
April 17, 2026 / 10:22 PM EDT / CBS/AP
A federal judge has blocked a $6.2 billion merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento, California, made the ruling late Friday afternoon, finding that eight attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their legal bid to stop the merger.
The deal, announced last year and approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of one of the “Big Four” national networks: ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Nunley had already issued an emergency order blocking the deal for three weeks. On April 7, he heard arguments over whether that block should be extended until a lawsuit brought by attorneys general in eight states and DirecTV is resolved.
The attorneys general, all Democrats, and DirecTV contend the merger will lead to higher prices for consumers, stifle local journalism and that the deal runs afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.
“Consolidating hundreds of local TV stations under one corporate owner would mean higher prices and lower quality programming for consumers,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement following the ruling. “Nexstar’s merger with Tegna illegally eliminates competition, and today we won a critical victory in our effort to enforce the law and stop this merger from moving forward.”
Nexstar’s attorneys told the court the deal has already been reviewed and cleared by the FCC and the Justice Department. They said the FCC order commits the company to expand local journalism and programming, not shrink it.
In a statement, Nexstar said it will appeal Friday’s ruling.
“This 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,” Nexstar said. “Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps consistent with the Court order that has been in effect.”
The merger needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations one company can own. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in March that the company had agreed to divest itself of six stations.
In his emergency temporary restraining order, the judge noted that the merger would make Nexstar the owner of two or even three of the “Big Four” local affiliates in 31 local television markets. Once that occurs, Nunley wrote, multichannel video programming distributors such as DirecTV would have to comply with Nexstar’s demands for higher broadcast fees or risk leaving subscribers potentially unable to watch things like Sunday NFL football games.
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