“NTCA therefore opposes the merger and urges the Commission to reject it as contrary to the public interest and inconsistent with the Commission’s commitment to serving rural America,” the group said. In a Jan. 26 filing with the FCC, the NTCA cited survey data that “highlights the troubling escalation of retransmission costs foisted upon rural video providers. In their most recent retransmission consent negotiations, rural MVPDs experienced average fee increases of $128,351, a substantial rise from the $104,020 increase in 2024 and the $78,022 increase in 2023,” the group said. “This acceleration in fee growth demonstrates that the cost pressures identified by NTCA in previous comments are only intensifying. Research continues to demonstrate that MVPDs pay significantly more for programming from large, consolidated broadcast groups compared to independent stations.”“Nexstar Media is already among the nation’s largest and most powerful broadcast groups,” the filing stressed.