Nexstar Media Group announced that it has “completed its acquisition” of Tegna in a $6.2 billion transaction, following transaction approvals from the FCC and Department of Justice.
The deal will see Nexstar, already the largest television station group in the United States, expand its footprint in Tegna, resulting in a company with 259 full-power stations (after selling six), partnering with networks as diverse as ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. The deal will give the combined company access to 80% of U.S. TV households, but will own less than 15% of the nation’s 1,777 local TV stations.
Nexstar’s announcement comes after eight state attorneys general and DirecTV filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Tegna acquisition, with each claiming the merger would increase prices for consumers and negatively impact local news production.
In approving the deal, the FCC granted both companies an exemption from ownership caps that prohibit local station owners from serving more than 39% of U.S. households. In addition to selling six stations across six different markets, Nexstar is committed to “pursuing affordability and locality,” according to the FCC.
In a statement, Nexstar founder, chairman and CEO Perry Sooke (pictured above) encouraged President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to “allow this deal to move forward.”
“This deal is essential to maintaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Perry Sooke, Nexstar founder, chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “The combination of these two outstanding companies will make Nexstar a stronger, more dynamic company, better positioned to deliver great journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities and talent. We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr and the Department of Justice for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and allowing us to move forward with this transaction.”
Kerr said in a statement that by approving the agreement, “the FCC is acting with the media market in mind today, not the media market of decades ago, and the FCC will ensure these stations have the resources to continue investing in their local news businesses.”
“The FCC has focused on ensuring that broadcast television stations can serve their communities, consistent with their public interest obligations,” Kerr said. “Today’s agency decision does just that, as both the record and Nexstar’s enforceable commitments demonstrate.”
On December 1, 2025, the FCC received a request for approval to transfer control of certain television stations from Tegna to Nexstar. At the time, Tegna operated 64 full-power broadcast television stations, one AM radio station, and one FM radio station. Nexstar operated 201 stations in 116 television markets.
The companies say their assets overlap in 35 designated market areas (DMAs), and the combined company will operate 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, and full-power television stations in 132 of the nation’s 210 television DMAs. The applicants were seeking both an exemption from the FCC’s 39% cap on group ownership of television stations and an exemption from local television ownership rules in 23 DMAs that allow ownership of more than one station within a DMA. In addition, the consolidated company will own two stations in each of the 17 DMAs.
Nexstar has committed to selling its next television station no later than two years after the deal with Tegna is completed. WTHR, Indianapolis, Indiana. WCTX, New Haven, CT; WAVY, Portsmouth, VA. WUPL, Slidell, Louisiana. KNWA, Rogers, Arkansas.
According to the FCC order approving the deal, Nexstar also committed to “expanding its investments in local news and programming, including increasing the amount of local news it offers in acquired markets.” Regarding “pricing and affordability concerns,” Nexstar has committed to offering pay-TV providers with existing retransmission agreements an extension at their existing rates until November 30, 2026. Additionally, Nexstar is committed to “equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination.”
Nexstar announced that it has agreed to acquire Tegna in August 2025.
In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday (March 18), the eight states that sued to block the Nexstar-Tegna merger — California, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut and Virginia — argued that the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers that substantially reduce competition or tend to create a monopoly.
“This merger is illegal, patent and in violation of federal antitrust laws that protect consumers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “When broadcast media is owned by a small number of corporations, our voices are diminished, there is less competition, and communities lose important checks on the power that local journalism provides.”
Last September, Nexstar made headlines for its decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show (along with rival Sinclair) on its ABC affiliate because of Kimmel’s comments about the MAGA movement’s attempts to score political points from the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Nexstar’s decision was seen as an attempt to curry favor with the FCC’s Kerr, who had vigorously criticized Kimmel’s comments and suggested that local TV stations could lose their licenses if they did not take Kimmel off the air. Nexstar denied that Kerr’s comments influenced its decision to pre-empt Kimmel’s show. Three days after ABC reinstated Kimmel, Nexstar agreed to begin airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Again (as well as Sinclair). Nexstar said Disney executives took a “constructive approach to address our concerns.” In a Sept. 26 memo to Nexstar employees co-authored with President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Beard, Sook also said that Nexstar’s blackout of Kimmel was not a violation of the First Amendment, saying, “No one has an unrestricted right to say whatever they want on a talk show.”
