As both a lawyer and someone who has spent years advising businesses, I have witnessed firsthand how much predictable rules matter. Colorado’s legal and business communities both depend on confidence that established processes will be followed. Courts rely on consistent legal standards to ensure fairness, and businesses rely on those same principles to make investments, hire employees, and plan for the future.
As a former assistant attorney general in Colorado, I have enormous respect for the role attorneys general play in protecting consumers and enforcing the law. Those responsibilities are fundamental to maintaining public trust. However, from my experience in the business world, I also understand that regulatory certainty is itself a public good.
It抖阴ap that perspective that I鈥檝e considered the effects of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger 鈥� a transaction that has already undergone thorough review by the two federal agencies Congress charged with evaluating broadcast mergers. The Department of Justice examined the competitive implications of the deal, while the Federal Communications Commission separately reviewed whether it served the public interest. After analysis, both agencies approved the transaction.
That process exists for a reason. Congress recognized that broadcast mergers raise complex legal, economic, and technical questions that require specialized expertise. Companies operating in regulated industries are expected to follow that process, provide extensive information, and address regulators’ concerns. In return, they should be able to rely on the integrity of that process once it has run its course.
When litigation continues after exhaustive federal review, the consequences extend beyond a single transaction.
Businesses considering major investments pay close attention to regulatory risk. If completing years of review and receiving approval from the appropriate federal agencies no longer provides meaningful certainty, companies become more cautious about investing, expanding, or pursuing transactions that could strengthen their ability to compete and bring their customers real benefits. That uncertainty affects far more than the parties in a particular lawsuit; it shapes the broader investment climate.
Those concerns are especially relevant for local broadcasters. The media marketplace has changed dramatically as national technology platforms (sometimes called 鈥渂ig tech鈥�) have captured audiences, advertising revenue, and influence. Local broadcasters must continue adapting if they are going to remain competitive and continue serving the communities that rely on them. Whether companies have the confidence to make those investments depends, in part, on whether our regulatory system provides predictable outcomes.
None of this suggests attorneys general should hesitate to enforce antitrust laws when genuine violations occur. Strong enforcement protects consumers and competitive markets. But every legal action should also be measured against its likely public benefit. Litigation requires substantial public resources, and those resources should be deployed where they can make the greatest difference for consumers and taxpayers, not simply because another round of litigation remains available.
Colorado has no shortage of important legal priorities, from protecting consumers against fraud to addressing the complex issues facing families and businesses across the state. Those are precisely the kinds of challenges that call for the careful attention and resources of the Attorney General’s Office.
The question raised by the Nexstar鈥揟EGNA litigation is larger than one merger. It is whether our legal and regulatory systems continue to provide the certainty that businesses, investors, and the public reasonably expect after a thorough review has been completed.
Predictability is not a favor to business. It is one of the foundations of a well-functioning legal system. When government applies the rules consistently, businesses have the confidence to invest, innovation is encouraged, public institutions earn greater trust and the public benefits. Those are outcomes worth preserving.
Robin Rossenfeld is an attorney, who holds an MBA from New York University, a former assistant attorney general and she served on the executive council of the Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors.
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