The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday said it had approved the merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna, the same day that two lawsuits trying to block the deal were announced.

The consolidated company would own multiple stations in Denver, where Nexstar owns FOX31 KDVR and KWGN, and Tegna currently owns 9NEWS KUSA and KTVD.

Nexstar’s chairman and CEO, Perry Sook, has said multiple stations in the same city will be combined, according toThe Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS. Apart from this comment, Nexstar has not publicly said what will happen with the stations in the Denver market.

On Friday, Attorney General Phil Weiser joined seven other attorneys general filed a request for a temporary restraining order to block the merger, according to a news release.

“The federal government’s approval of the Nexstar/Tegna merger indicates the fix was in. The Justice Department and the FCC have failed to give this merger the thorough review it requires — and disregarded established standards in the process,” Weiser said in the release.

Nexstar said last August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the company had agreed to divest itself of six of those stations.

The deal needed the approval of the Trump administration’s FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations that one company can own. Nexstar said it had also received approval from the Justice Department, but attempts to independently confirm that were not immediately successful Thursday.

“We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and allowing this transaction to move forward,” said Perry Sook, Nexstar’s chairman and CEO.

Attorneys general in eight states and DirecTV filed lawsuits with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, seeking to block the merger. The lawsuits make similar arguments that the deal will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.

The action was filed by the top lawyers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. The state lawyers argued the merger would run afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.

In joining the other states in the lawsuit, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, cited the drastically increased reach — listed as 80% of U.S. households — the merged company would have, according to a Thursday news release from the office.

The merger would also consolidate 57% of Denver’s local broadcast market into the hands of a single organization, the release added.

“Not only will this merger reduce the quality of local TV offerings, but consumers will also end up paying more for monthly cable TV or satellite service as a result,” Weiser said in the release. “Competition in the local media market is critical for a healthy democracy, an informed citizenry, and affordable access to sports, news and prime time shows.”

Similarly, DirecTV predicted the deal would allow Nexstar to jack up the price it can extract from DirecTV and other distributors to carry their stations, “which will force them to raise prices to their subscribers.”

Given Nexstar’s tendency to consolidate newsrooms in communities where it owns more than one station, both lawsuits expressed concern that the merger would hurt the already struggling local news business. There are 31 markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna own at least one station, according to the states’ lawsuit.

In approving the deal, Carr said that “if you care about local news, you should care about the future of local broadcast stations.” He said the deal will ensure that the broadcasters have the resources to continue investing in those operations. Sook, too, said Nexstar will be a stronger company, “better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming.”

Nexstar had no direct comment on the lawsuits, a spokesman said.

The Denver Gazette’s news partner 9NEWS contributed to this story.