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What Nexstar S Attempt To Change Fcc Rules Could Mean For Your Local

Leo Migdal
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what nexstar s attempt to change fcc rules could mean for your local

The broadcast television industry knows it needs to consolidate. It's just struggling with how to do it. In August, Nexstar Media Group, the largest owner of broadcast stations in the U.S., announced a proposed $6.2 billion deal to buy Tegna — a combination that would bring together more than 260 stations... Last week, Sinclair, the owner of 179 local TV affiliates, made a hostile offer to acquire its smaller peer E.W. Scripps after buying up nearly 10% of the company on the open market. Both potential deals remain in limbo, and executives are getting antsy.

Companies like Sinclair and Nexstar run the affiliate stations of the major networks across the U.S. known for local news, sports and other broadcast content. They face the same headwinds as their cable and content studio counterparts — the shrinking number of pay-TV customers due to the rise of streaming and tech options. Nexstar Media Group has submitted comprehensive comments to the Federal Communications Commission’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” proceeding, arguing for the elimination of decades-old broadcast ownership restrictions that it claims hamper competition and threaten the future... In its April 10, 2025, filing, Nexstar traced the history of broadcast ownership regulation back to 1941, when the FCC first limited the number of television stations a single entity could own to just... FCC looks to ‘delete, delete, delete,’ asking public which rules to scrap

The National Television Ownership Cap has evolved over decades, with Congress last setting it at 39% of U.S. television households in 2004, where it remains today. The current regulatory framework also includes the Local Television Ownership Rule, which prohibits ownership of more than two full-power television stations in a Designated Market Area (DMA), with only one allowed to rank among... Nexstar Media Group has formally asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to complete its long-pending acquisition of TEGNA Inc., filing applications on November 18, 2025, to transfer all of TEGNA’s broadcast television licenses... The requests include detailed arguments for waivers of several ownership rules that would otherwise block or severely restrict the combination if those rules remain unchanged. The companies are betting on a more permissive regulatory environment under the incoming Trump administration and a Republican-majority FCC.

Nexstar contends that rules written decades ago no longer match today’s media marketplace, where local television stations compete against global technology platforms and national cable networks that face no comparable ownership caps. The filing emphasizes that granting the waivers—or better yet, eliminating the outdated restrictions entirely—would allow the combined company to achieve the scale needed to keep investing in local newsrooms at a time when many... If approved without major divestitures, the transaction would create the largest local-television station group in the United States by a significant margin. Nexstar already owns or operates stations reaching roughly 39 percent of U.S. television households; adding TEGNA’s portfolio of 64 stations in 51 markets would push that national footprint well above the current 39 percent statutory cap and trigger multiple local-market overlaps that violate the FCC’s duopoly... Rather than proposing large-scale station sales at the outset, Nexstar has instead asked the Commission to waive those limits in the public interest.

The applications argue that consolidation would strengthen local journalism by giving the combined company greater resources to produce original reporting, maintain costly broadcast operations, and negotiate more effectively with cable, satellite, and streaming distributors. The filing contrasts local television newsrooms—staffed by journalists who live in the communities they cover—with social-media algorithms and artificial-intelligence content that the company portrays as less reliable. The deal’s revival comes after years of uncertainty. Nexstar and TEGNA first announced the $8.6 billion transaction in early 2023, only to face prolonged FCC review under the prior administration, which had signaled a tougher stance on media consolidation. With a new administration preparing to take office in January 2026 and FCC leadership expected to shift soon afterward, Nexstar appears confident that the political and regulatory climate has changed enough to move forward. Nexstar announced Tuesday that it intends to buy Tegna for $6.2 billion — a deal that has been rumored for weeks.

To pull off what would be the biggest change in TV broadcast ownership history, however, the Federal Communications Commission would have to relax rules limiting how much of the country one company can reach... The FCC appears open to changing the rules. Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency “is committed to ending all of the rules and regulations that are no longer necessary.” Similar rollbacks have happened before. The deal faces other complications, too. Almost simultaneously, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sinclair — another of the country’s largest station groups — is also eyeing Tegna. And while Nexstar called its deal with Tegna a “definitive agreement,” any sale must still be approved by Tegna shareholders.

In the world of media mergers, “definitive” often comes with wiggle room. If it does go through, the Nexstar-Tegna merger would create a broadcasting giant. The combined company would own 265 stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, with a footprint in 132 of the country’s 210 designated market areas, the standard unit Nielsen uses to measure... That includes nine of the top 10 markets, 41 of the top 50, 62 of the top 75 and 82 of the top 100. But the number that matters most is that Nexstar’s reach would grow to 80% of U.S. television households — more than double the FCC’s current 39% cap.

The deal “is absolutely critical to preserve the ability of the local television stations owned by Nexstar and Tegna to continue as viable, reliable sources of trusted, locally-focused news and information,” Nexstar told the... When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broadcast licenses currently controlled by Tegna to Nexstar. Earlier on Nov.

18, Tegna shareholders approved the $6.2 billion merger in a special meeting. The redacted filings weren’t immediately available on the FCC site, but a copy obtained by TV Tech stressed the importance of the agency’s approval and pushed for the Commission to waive certain ownership rules...

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