Senator Elizabeth Warren and a handful of other top Democrats have sent a letter to FCC chairman Brendan Carr and Department of Justice antitrust chief Gail Slater, asking them to take a detailed have a look at Nexstar‘s proposed deal for Tegna, and to dam it in the event that they find it anticompetitive.
“We write to induce you to closely scrutinize Nexstar Media Group, Inc’s (‘Nexstar’) proposed acquisition of Tegna Inc. (‘Tegna’) and to dam this deal if you happen to determine that it violates federal telecommunications or antitrust laws,” the letter says, a duplicate of which was viewed by The Hollywood Reporter.
The letter was signed by Warren, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Representatives Summer Lee (D-PA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), who’s Rating Member of the Subcommittee on Communications & Technology within the House. They sent the letter late Monday night.
The Senators and Representatives raise various concerns within the letter, including the combined Nexstar-Tegna’s scale in local TV; concerns that the deal would “Increase costs, drive job losses, and harm local journalism”; and that it might exceed the 39 percent national ownership cap as spelled out within the Telecommunications Act.
“Nexstar’s proposed acquisition of Tegna would create a media giant that might likely raise prices, drive layoffs, and reduce independent news coverage,” they write. “In case your agencies approve the deal, the country’s largest TV station owner would double its audience reach to 80% of TV households and cement a market-dominant position. The industry’s try and boost profits for executives through consolidation ultimately comes on the expense of viewers across the country and independent, local TV journalism.
“We urge the FCC to rigorously review the deal, including by holding public hearings, and block it if Nexstar cannot affirmatively prove that the deal will profit the general public, not only its shareholders,” the letter continues. “We moreover urge the DOJ to contemplate the anticompetitive effects of a Nexstar-Tegna merger because it scrutinizes this deal and block the acquisition if it illegally harms competition in violation of federal law.”
The letter comes a day before Carr and fellow FCC commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty are set to testify in an FCC oversight hearing on Wednesday, in front of the Senate Commerce Committee, which is led by Ted Cruz (R-TX). The proposed Nexstar-Tegna deal, the Jimmy Kimmel fiasco and other issues are more likely to arise within the hearing.
You possibly can read the total letter, below.