Several other state attorneys general will join Washington AG Nick Brown to discuss recent litigation over mergers and monopolies.
SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is expected to hold a press conference Monday to push for additional state-level resources to combat monopolies and “illegal” mergers.
Brown will be joined by attorneys general Dan Rayfield of Oregon, Rob Bonta of California, Aaron Ford of Nevada and Letitia James of New York.
KING 5 will livestream the press conference at 11 a.m.
In March, a coalition of state attorneys general sued to stop the merger between Nexstar and TEGNA, which is KING 5’s parent company. The merger, which combines the nation’s largest and third-largest TV station conglomerates, would cover 80% of American households.
Washington is not a part of the Nexstar/TEGNA lawsuit.
The states argued it would lead to less competition, cut local jobs and increase cable retransmission fees. Nexstar has said the merger followed required regulatory approval and will make local stations stronger.
Washington is currently involved in several cases involving monopolization and mergers.
In January 2024, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued over the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertson’s. The two companies are the largest grocery store chains in Washington with more than 300 supermarkets in Washington.
In December 2024, a King County judge ruled the merger was unlawful, and Kroger and Albertson’s gave up the merger.
In February 2024, Washington joined the U.S. Department of Justice and more than two dozen other states in an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, arguing its tactics led to increased ticket prices for consumers and limited industry competition.
In April, a jury found Live Nation had a harmful monopoly over big venues.
Washington also joined the DOJ and state attorneys general as part of a 2024 lawsuit against Apple over smartphone market monopolization and several lawsuits from 2020 to 2023 against Google over monopoly of online display advertising, search engines and app distribution services.
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