Two Portland-area TV stations that serve Salem viewers with local news could end up under the same corporate roof if Nexstar Media Group gets its way.

However, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is trying to stop the merge.

Rayfield filed a motion Wednesday, July 22, in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, arguing that Nexstar is violating a federal judge's order to keep its operations separate from Tegna Inc. while an antitrust lawsuit plays out.

The motion asks Judge Troy Nunley to clarify that Nexstar personnel cannot sit on Tegna's board of directors.

The local stakes: Nexstar owns KOIN 6 in Portland, and Tegna owns KGW. Both stations serve the Salem market with separate, competing newsrooms. If the merger goes through, a single company would control both outlets.

"Nexstar and Tegna need to follow the court order — it's not a suggestion," Rayfield said in a statement released by the Oregon Department of Justice on July 22.

Five Nexstar executives on Tegna's board

The heart of the dispute is who sits on Tegna's board.

According to court filings, all five Tegna board members are current or former Nexstar executives: CEO Perry Sook, President Michael Biard, CFO Lee Ann Gliha, General Counsel Elizabeth Ryder, and former broadcasting president Timothy Busch.

On a May 2026 investor call, Sook himself described the board as "comprised of Nexstar executives and Nexstar management team."

The coalition of 13 state attorneys general and DirecTV alleges that this Nexstar-dominated board has already approved Tegna's budget, which was built from Tegna's competitively sensitive financial forecasts.

The plaintiffs wrote in the motion that Nexstar "cannot simultaneously control TEGNA's Board and comply with an injunction requiring TEGNA to remain independent."

Nexstar pushes back

Nexstar spokesperson Gary Weitman denied any violation, saying the company "has scrupulously complied with the Court's hold-separate order" and that Tegna "continues to operate independently."

Nexstar argues in court filings that the April injunction bars its employees from serving as Tegna officers but does not expressly prohibit them from serving as directors.

How the case got here

Judge Nunley issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, April 17, blocking full integration of the two companies after finding the plaintiffs were likely to win their antitrust case.

In that ruling, Nunley wrote that Nexstar has a track record of consolidating newsrooms when it owns multiple stations in a market, meaning viewers "will lose options for where to get their local news."

Nexstar had already closed the deal after the FCC approved it in March, so the injunction required the companies to maintain separate operations. Oregon joined the coalition through an amended complaint filed April 30, expanding the group to 13 attorneys general.

The states argue the merger would give Nexstar leverage to raise retransmission fees charged to cable and satellite providers, costs they say would ultimately be passed to consumers through higher cable bills.

What's next

The motion asks Judge Nunley to order expedited discovery and monthly compliance reports from Nexstar. Nexstar is separately appealing the injunction to the Ninth Circuit, though no oral argument date has been set.

The full antitrust trial is scheduled for Friday, July 9, 2027, in Sacramento.