“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.”

“The judge said the FCC clearance process for the deal was “unusual,” and that the regulatory oversight “did not curb the manifest anticompetitive effects of this acquisition.””

“The Department of Justice, which is tasked with conducting antitrust reviews of these types of mergers, announced it was closing its investigation of the deal in March through “early termination,” the judge noted, ending the review process sooner than is normally required by statute.”

““In unusual circumstances — with the FCC’s quasi-adjudicatory licensing proceeding still pending — the President himself weighed in publicly in February and urged federal regulators to approve the deal to ‘knock out the Fake News,’” Nunley wrote.”

“The preliminary injunction is designed to keep things as they are until the lawsuit is fully decided, Nunley said.”

“New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a “critical victory” in a statement released Friday evening.”

““Consolidating hundreds of local TV stations under one corporate owner would mean higher prices and lower quality programming for consumers,” she wrote.”