Nexstar Media Group is making waves in the American media landscape with its recently announced plan to acquire rival broadcaster Tegna Inc. in a deal valued at $6.2 billion, including debt. If approved, the acquisition will create the largest local TV station owner in the United States, dramatically reshaping the industry’s competitive dynamics and sparking intense debate about the future of local news and media consolidation.
According to Reuters, the agreement, which was made public in August 2025, will see Nexstar pay $3.54 billion in cash for Tegna’s operations, with the remainder of the $6.2 billion figure reflecting Tegna’s outstanding debt. This move comes at a time when traditional broadcasters are grappling with declining viewership, shrinking advertising revenue, and fierce competition from streaming services and digital platforms. By expanding its reach to cover roughly 80% of U.S. TV households—including major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle—Nexstar is betting big on scale as the key to survival and relevance in a rapidly evolving media environment.
"The initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration offer local broadcasters the opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field, and compete more effectively with the Big Tech and legacy Big Media companies," Nexstar CEO Perry Sook told Reuters. Sook’s comments reflect a broader industry sentiment: national media conglomerates and tech giants like Google and Facebook have been steadily siphoning off advertising dollars, leaving regional broadcasters struggling to adapt.
The proposed merger is part of a broader wave of consolidation sweeping the American media sector. Earlier this year, Skydance merged with Paramount, and both Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery announced plans to split their businesses. For Nexstar and Tegna, joining forces is a strategic response to the existential threats posed by streaming and digital competitors.
Yet, the deal faces significant regulatory hurdles. Under current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, no single broadcaster may reach more than 39% of U.S. television households. The Nexstar-Tegna merger would far exceed that threshold, prompting calls for regulatory overhaul. In June 2025, the FCC began a review of the ownership cap, which hasn’t been updated since 2017. Complicating matters further, a recent decision by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s "Top Four" rule, which previously barred ownership of two top-rated stations in the same market. This legal shift has emboldened Nexstar’s ambitions, as the company looks to capitalize on what it sees as a more favorable regulatory environment under President Donald Trump’s administration.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, the implications of the deal are especially acute. Nexstar currently owns WATE, while Tegna owns WBIR—two of the city’s top television stations. Historically, federal regulations would have prevented a single company from owning both. Now, with the recent court ruling, Nexstar could potentially control both outlets, raising questions about competition, newsroom independence, and the diversity of local voices.
Michael Martinez, a media law expert and professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, told Knox News, "My gut instinct from a business standpoint (is that) they would try to keep the healthy one and put all of their resources into the healthy one." He added, "Whether they merge the two stations, it will still be under one umbrella. Whether they close down one station, again, fewer voices. That's a bad thing. We need a variety of sources and a variety of voices."
Not everyone agrees that consolidation will necessarily lead to less local content. Washington attorney Andrew Lipman, speaking to Knox News, argued, "I don’t think shutting down a station is a realistic likelihood. And they would be forgoing whatever value they paid, or will pay, for that second station." Lipman also pointed out the unique nature of the FCC’s ownership cap in the current media landscape: "There’s no cap that applies to say Google, Facebook or other social media. Having such an ownership cap is fairly unique—and many would argue out of date—given the diminished role that local television now plays in a multimedia, social media environment."
Should Nexstar be required to divest one of the Knoxville stations, Gray Media, another major TV station owner, could be a potential buyer. This would add yet another layer of complexity to the local media landscape, as Gray has also been expanding its holdings in recent years.
Perry Sook, during an August 19 interview with CNBC, drew an analogy between operating multiple TV stations in one market and running two newspapers off a single printing press. He emphasized that stations would retain autonomy under Nexstar’s ownership—a response to concerns about centralized editorial control, especially after a 2018 viral video showed Sinclair Broadcasting anchors reciting identical scripts about "fake news." Sook’s reassurance, however, hasn’t fully quelled anxieties among media watchdogs and community advocates about the potential for homogenized news coverage.
The financial rationale behind the deal is clear. Both Nexstar and Tegna have seen revenues decline in recent quarters, despite a strong fiscal 2024 fueled by political advertising. The companies expect to realize approximately $300 million in annual cost savings by consolidating operations. Nexstar has secured financing from BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs, with the deal expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. If Tegna opts for a higher bid, it must pay Nexstar a $120 million breakup fee; conversely, if regulators block the deal, Nexstar will owe Tegna $125 million.
Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee are among those urging the FCC to repeal the ownership cap, arguing that local broadcasters need greater flexibility to compete with digital giants. The FCC, for its part, reviews its media ownership rules every four years as mandated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Whether the current Republican-led FCC will ultimately scrap or modify the 39% rule remains to be seen, but many industry observers expect a more deregulatory approach in the months ahead.
Should the merger proceed, the combined Nexstar-Tegna entity would own 265 full-power TV stations across 44 states and Washington, D.C., operating in 132 of the nation’s 210 designated market areas. The companies currently overlap in 35 markets, including Knoxville, making the local impact of the deal especially pronounced in those regions.
Justin Nielson, head of Kagan Research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told Reuters that the deal gives Nexstar an edge over its broadcast peers. However, he cautioned, "amid more competition for premium content including sports rights, there are still major challenges ahead of them in terms of loss of advertising share and subscribers to Big Tech."
As the FCC and the Department of Justice weigh the potential impact on competition, local news coverage, and the advertising market, the Nexstar-Tegna merger stands as a bellwether for the future of American broadcasting. Will it usher in a new era of robust, competitive local news—or accelerate the decline of diverse, independent voices in communities across the country? For now, all eyes are on Washington as the regulatory process unfolds.
One thing is certain: the outcome of this high-stakes deal will shape the media landscape for years to come, with ripple effects felt far beyond the boardrooms of Nexstar and Tegna.