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 so that the deal could be approved.
“The Applications demonstrate that the Transaction unequivocally will serve the public interest and its approval is urgently needed,” the filing said. “Despite Nexstar’s and Tegna's positions as industry leaders, both are susceptible to intense market forces conspiring against their ability to sustain operations at their current level, and these challenges are amplified by the specific circumstances in the markets in which waiver of the Commission’s rules may be necessary to allow the proposed combinations.”
The broadcasters cited the importance of their local news, their ability to alert local communities about threats to public safety and severe weather and their investments in technologies like ATSC 3.0 as examples of their public service.
“Each has demonstrated leadership in moving the broadcast industry forward toward technologies that better serve consumers. Yet, against the backdrop of existential changes to the market in which they compete, maintaining the status quo simply is not an option for either company,” they told the FCC.
“In short, this Transaction 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,” it concluded. “Local television stations are among the few remaining such sources—particularly given the gutting of local newspapers—in a media landscape that is more and more dominated by national and global technology and media behemoths…The Transaction will provide the combined Nexstar with economies of scale and the reach needed to successfully compete with giants like Alphabet (Google, YouTube, YouTubeTV), Amazon (Amazon Ads, Prime Video, Twitch), Apple (AppleTV), Comcast (Peacock), Disney (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, Fubo), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Netflix, Paramount (Paramount+, Pluto TV), TikTok, and Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO Max), all of which are unshackled in their ability to reach a national audience.”
In connection with the filing, Nexstar’s founder, chairman, chief executive officer, Perry Sook, reiterated those arguments and praised the Trump administration.
“Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna is vitally important to the future of local television and local journalism,” he said. “We are grateful that the Trump administration and the FCC recognize that the current television ownership regulations are outdated and do not reflect the competitive media landscape as it has evolved over the past 25+ years. Like the Trump administration, we are focused on achieving deregulation, and we continue to advocate for the elimination of the antiquated constraints on local television ownership as the best solution to level the competitive playing field for all media.”
“While waiting for the FCC to complete its rule-making process, we submitted waiver requests to bypass the major barriers that prevent us from competing fairly—including with legacy media and Big Tech— massive entities with vast resources that afford them enormous influence that extends into every pocket, purse and backpack of Americans everywhere,” he added.
“To be clear, in an age of disinformation and political agendas, we are the anti-fake news,” he also noted. “Our news is delivered by trusted, familiar voices—journalists who live in the community—not a chat-bot or social media influencers. And yet, we are prohibited from broadcasting trusted local news and programming to hundreds of communities across the country because of antiquated regulatory constraints. In an era where political discourse has turned increasingly polarized and violent, our democracy requires that Americans have easy access to reliable fact-based journalism and community forums to debate the issues of the day safely and respectfully.”
“Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna will provide us with the scale necessary for local journalism to thrive amidst a media landscape that is dominated by Big Tech and the legacy media companies, enabling us to continue not only investing in high-quality journalism and local news, but in serving our local communities in the best possible way,” he concluded.
(Editor’s note. When the filings become available on the FCC site we will post a link.)
