Policyband Analysis: Obama Judge’s TRO Filled with TDS (TEGNA Derangement Syndrome)
It was a shock to see another superstar company like Nexstar effectively ground to dust by a dystopian West Coast political class led by America Last Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)
Washington, March 30, 2026 – The Nexstar-TEGNA merger is dead (for now), and the undertaker was a wayward federal judge appointed by President Obama (natch 1.0) sitting in the Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Calif.) U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento, California (natch 2.0). The judge did show some real talent for totally ignoring the existential threats facing the country’s local commercial TV stations. If Nexstar-TEGNA fails, it will mean that America’s local TV station industry’s future is doomed and its spectrum will eventually be sold off to SpaceX.
U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley is now running TEGNA. He’s in full control. Clearly, he’s no fan of Justice Felix Frankfurter’s concept of judicial restraint based on the long list of do’s and don’ts he imposed on Nexstar until further notice.
In a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued Friday night filled with half-truths, innuendo, omissions, and specious market constructs, Nunley reduced Nexstar to a vassal corporation subservient to his whims. There’s supposed to be a hearing on April 7 on a preliminary injunction. But that’s just a distraction. Nunley is going to kill the deal, and it will die as an illegal combination under the Clayton Act if he’s not reversed by the Ninth Circuit (highly unlikely) or the Supreme Court, where Nexstar might prevail, but it is unclear how long it would take to secure ultimate victory. (More after paywall.)
