Leaderboard

As a moderator "buddy," I'll tell BOTH of you to cool it. You gave your POVs, I'll trust you both to leave it at that. Feel free to continue contributing to the larger discussion, but no need to address each other, beyond this.

Why do folks make such subjectively inaccurate statements based on personal biases? Of course people still watch local news–perhaps not in the same numbers they once did, but the viewers are there. And if you're not one of them, then don't assume everyone else is.

I could think of no better way to drive away viewers than through consolidating news departments and mass downsizing. People are creatures of habit and they're going to be upset seeing their favorite station dismantled, especially when it's the much stronger station Nexstar opts to kill off (KUSA, WBIR).

KDVR has recently overtaken KUSA from what I've heard from those in the market. Additionally, KDVR houses the master control hub for like 60 of Nexstar's stations. They're actually one of Nexstar's most successful and profitable stations I believe. Not to mention they own KWGN, a CW affiliate, which Nexstar also owns the majority of. Fox News even has offices in the building. It's far far easier to gut KUSA than it is to upend KDVR. But you're right, consolidation really isn't bad! Merging stations and laying off hundreds of people with thousands of years of experience while local management and the executive offices continue to get massive bonuses is fantastic. Not to mention Nexstar's phenomenal yearly pay raises of...1-2%.

Sinclair deserves to be bought out. Their employees deserve a better owner, and the viewers deserve one as well. Hopefully the next one is any sort of improvement.

I think it's really obvious that Sinclair knew the Nexstar train was almost at the station and was using the media reports to put the offer in front of Tegna. They'd been in talks for months. This was 11th-hour, 11th-minute. By the time we heard of it, the Tegna board had approved of it.

Nah. Nexstar will sell 9News's building and consolidate operations at KDVR|KWGN, since they're right down the street from each other and Nexstar is known for gutting stations that they purchase. So 9News will be hollowed and, knowing Clyde Becker, all these stations will have the same graphics and branding (i.e. "We're on it".) because Clyde can't manage to find his way out of a McDonald's much less boost ratings. All the departments will remain mostly the same size for 4 stations as they are with 2. I expect simulcasting to save money. Kyle Clark, for the record, will be fired or pushed out. See him coming to Substack soon.

Former Nexstar employee here...it sucks that the field of employers is narrowing. Even worse that the lowest paying station owner is now the biggest.

I think the final logo will change, it's currently used by the network in some of their graphics and it looks like they threw it together at the last minute. As a loyal MSNBC viewer, I'm thrilled that MSNBC is distancing itself from the toxic disgrace known as NBC News, and I know many others who feel the same way. Yes MSNBC is partisan, but there are a lot of people out there who want and need a partisan network right now. We can't trust any mainstream TV news to cover Trump fairly because their owners are worried Trump is going to come after their theme parks or internet business or whatever. By removing all associations with NBC News, this new network can highlight the fact that they are independent and the only television news outlet not scared of death of upsetting the president. NBC News is actually hurting MSNBC's credibility with its audience right now.

They will need to look to Tegna's shareholders to make the argument that it is a better deal than Nexstar's. Although Sinclair has much bigger financial issues...that would be a disaster in the making.

These stories remain amusing, especially since Sinclair is also eyeing TEGNA. https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/tv-station-owner-sinclair-proposes-merger-with-tegna-4bd3bb86?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1 TV-Station Owner Sinclair Proposes Merger With Tegna Nexstar Media Group announced a deal to buy Tegna By Lauren Thomas and Joe Flint Updated Aug. 19, 2025 10:08 am ET Sinclair has a market value of about $1 billion. Photo: Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/ZUMA Press Sinclair, one of the country’s largest owners of local television stations, has offered to merge its broadcast TV business with Tegna, according to people familiar with the matter. Tegna had been in advanced talks to sell itself to Nexstar Media Group NXST 0.65%increase; green up pointing triangle , The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, and Tuesday announced it had agreed to a $6.2 billion deal with Nexstar. The details Sinclair SBGI -1.09%decrease; red down pointing triangle has proposed separating its Ventures business—which houses nontraditional broadcast media assets including the Tennis Channel and investments—and merging its remaining broadcast TV business with Tegna, in a deal that would value Tegna shares at around $25 to $30 apiece, the people said. The deal with Nexstar was for $22 a share, the companies said Tuesday. That was a more than 30% premium to the average price before the Journal’s report on the Nexstar talks. Sinclair has a market value of about $1 billion, while Nexstar’s is around $6.3 billion, potentially making it hard for Sinclair to compete. Sinclair also has over $4 billion of debt on its balance sheet. Tegna owns 64 stations, many in major markets. The company has attracted takeover interest from several suitors in recent years. In 2022, it agreed to be taken private by hedge fund Standard General in a deal valued at $8.6 billion, including debt. But the deal fell apart after a series of regulatory hurdles under the Biden administration. Sinclair has 178 TV stations affiliated with major broadcasters such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the CW, and across 78 markets. Earlier this month, Sinclair said that its board authorized a wide-ranging strategic review for its broadcast business, including potential sales and acquisitions. It also said it was considering a spinoff or split-off of its Ventures arm. Nexstar is the largest local television broadcaster in the U.S., with over 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets. The context Deregulation has been predicted to spur a wave of consolidation across the TV industry, which is facing its own challenges, as more people consume media outside of traditional TV providers. Sinclair is among the broadcasters who have pushed the Federal Communications Commission to relax rules that prohibit a broadcaster from owning television stations that reach more than 39% of the nation’s television households. Late last month, broadcasters scored a win after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the FCC’s rules against a station group owning more than one of the top four TV stations for audience share in a given market.

Add KWTX to the list.

In the market I grew up in, Nexstar (or one of its sidecars) controls 3 stations. It's just one newsroom, and the same news program repurposed over and over again. The other major station is owned by Sinclair, and is a shell of itself. How this is in the public interest to have such consolidation of news, considering alternatives like newspapers are pretty dead thanks to consolidation and cuts by either Alden or Fortress (dba as Gatehouse/Gannett). A 15 sec Tik Tok video from a questionable source is not a credible replacement for all the newsrooms cut. I can't see how this is good news from a viewer's standpoint.

TBN is countersuing, claiming among other things that Dr. Phil Primetime isn't the continuation of the syndicated series that McGraw supposedly promised would air on the channel. (An interesting point, given that Primetime was much more politics-oriented than the lifestyle-focused syndie program; Wikipedia considers them separate shows.)

A few things: Who says they shut down great stations in place of keeping their own? Usually they keep the good one. In Denver for example, I could see them keeping KUSA, and LMAing Fox31. They know which station is stronger. Also, station consolidation isnt bad. They cant survive on their own anymore. No one watches local news! The days of having 5 newsrooms no one watches makes no sense anymore. If they can combine into one strong profitable center.. great.

There was once a saying that 4 and 6 do not come close to equaling 10 in Columbus. Nowadays, do 4 and 10 come close to equaling 6? I guess it's a wait and see to how far 10 has fallen under Tegna, and if 4 has actually recovered under Nexstar. Before, 4 and 10 dominated and often traded first place between each other.

Elex Michealsom linked-in page says he’s primary anchor for all breaking news events. Don’t believe me look it up.

I'm willing to bet it's permanent. Fox has gone on record saying they want their duopoly Fox stations to be all-news during weekdays.

Oh god no this is gonna force the networks to get involved I’m afraid. The number of markets that will be affected and layoffs will be astronomical.

The set is good. So much better than the previous one and its miles better than the ITV virtual garbage and the hard sets the regional newscasts have. Id rate it above the weird Ch5 set with the big "radiators" in background and the old colour-blocks Ch4 set. That hasnt really changed much in decades. Its too similar and the same can be said for the BBC sets. Where it falls apart for STV is the graphics, music and the old fashion format. They had the opportunity to do something fresh and they kept the glassy photos montage, yawn. And the stock library-sounding theme. Almost there, but the set is very nice.

This is going to be a regulation nightmare. Regardless of any forthcoming FCC action, antitrust issues are going to force some divestitures for sure. I knew the Sinclair Tegna deal was too good to be true... Now who's going to put Sinclair out of their misery?

Oh, shitfuck! Another invasion of the Sin-crapola in Denver! First in 2018, Sinclair approached the Tribune stations, who were parent companies of CW2 KWGN and FOX31 KDVR, to merge with them. That merger was rejected and merged with Nexstar instead. Now THIS YEAR? Sinclair is about to invade Denver again. Sin-crapola is approaching Tegna, who is the parent company of NBC9 KUSA, to merge with their stations. It could get worse in Washington DC. Tegna-owned CBS9 WUSA could merge with ABC7 WJLA, which sinclair already owns.

It also never got a chance to fly, so to speak. One anchor suffers a catastrophic injury, the other has personal issues of her own emerge. Not faulting ABC for swinging back to Charlie, but there was relatively (in viewer habit terms) little time to prove the concept.

Are you okay, boss? This is just a message board. Take a deep breath; you’re gonna be okay.

I like that idea. Should've gone with USA News. USA Network, maybe USA Golf, maybe USA Entertainment, idk.

It's weird that they're still keeping "MS" in the name even though Microsoft sold its share of the network 20 years ago. I know they're trying to make it a backronym for "My Source," but it's just very clunky. I'm not sure why they weren't willing to make an 100% clean break from the MSNBC brand. They've always been the third-place also-ran in cable news, there's nothing there worth clinging on to. The logo is also bad. It looks like the logo of a third-rate presidential candidate who gets 3% of the vote in the Iowa caucus and drops out before New Hampshire.

Markets with at least a Tegna/Nexstar duopoly, if not a triopoly or quadopoly between them: Ft. Smith, Little Rock, Sacramento, San Diego, Denver, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Tampa/St. Pete, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Quad Cities, New Orleans, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Buffalo, Charlotte, Greensboro, Cleveland, Columbus, Portland, Ore., Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Harrisburg-Lancaster-York, Knoxville, Memphis, Abilene, Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Midland-Odessa, San Angelo, Tyler, Tex., Norfolk. This deal doesn’t make financial sense if you buy these stations and keep separate news departments running. Most, if not all, of these markets stand to lose a news operation.

Oh no! A strongly-worded letter? That'll sway them.

It's so cute that everyone is just casually assuming that Nexstar would be obligated to sell anything when this merger is announced. The cold hard fact is Brendan Carr—a total right-wing hack of the worst sort—along with his lackey Olivia Trusty, will do all they can to get this cleared and approved as quickly as possible and will ignore any protests to the contrary. Why? Because Nexstar is the quintessential Republican company led by a typical Republican (Perry) whose lone purpose is to buy shit up. It's a company Brendan Carr loves and adores. We've seen in full display what he'll do with companies he doesn't like. Who cares if the current legislation doesn't allow it? No one else in this regime gives two shits about laws on the books they don't like, let alone one shit. Congress, who already just destroyed public broadcasting with a glint in their eye, wouldn't care if Carr superceded them (beyond the meaningless whining from the likes of Susan Collins or the tone-deaf tweets of an enriched, oblivious Charles Schumer) and you know it.

From Yahoo Sports:

which only one party? Obama ignored court orders twice - D.C. then FISA - to stop NSA surveilance that vacuumed everyone's emails, texts, calls, browsing etc... data without subpoenas, this started in the 90s by Bill Clinton and only a whistle blower brought it to light in 2011. Also, ignored court order on War Powers act because they felt "kinetic military action" in Libya didnt apply and could do it without asking congress. Most or all "ignored" orders were from district courts, which as the name implies can't issue lawful orders beyond their ... districts ... and that was rechecked recently. If lawful orders are ignored the courts have a mechanism to get a handle on it - contempt of court. Bill Clinton got one of these in 1999 when he didn't comply with court mandated discovery in Paula Jones' case. Carr could ignore anything he wants, that would end up helpful to whoemever ends up in court with him, and in the process end up costing Nexstar a few (hundred) million in breakup fees and unwinding the deal as these things usually go.

reports said Tegna's board approved the Nexstar deal. Bank of America, JPM and a third bank agreed to provide the cash money. So it's probably a done deal if they're announcing it publicly. Until it's not, but Sinclair would probably have to get prying bar out

Newest reporter/former CBS 2 Intern Victor Jacobo joins from Houston.

And if anything, Sinclair is now in deep trouble. They're gonna have to buy another equally-sized chain (Cox Media? ) or they're going to be left behind in the economy of scale game and will be takeover bait. Their "offer" to Tegna only serves to expose how desperate they really are.

I fully expect Brendan Carr to issue a statement in full support of this merger because Nexstar is a company he likes. Either he demands congress remove the cap to facilitate it, or he goes above the law and allows it anyway. Plus there's no pesky FTC or DOJ to demand any divestments. The end goal is to have Nexstar exert a monopoly on the industry so they can be the company we always feared Sinclair would be... shuttering newsrooms wholesale, undermining editorial independence, pushing political agendas... The only wildcard is if Fox seeks to repurchase the former LocalTV spin-offs, especially KTVI, WJW and KDVR. If they buy those stations while Nexstar keeps KPLR, WBNX and KWGN and folds them into KSDK, WKYC and WUSA, respectively, this becomes fairly academic.

If the deal goes through, looks like all four Denver stations will have to move out of their existing longtime quarters. Nexstar's existing duopoly CW2 KWGN and FOX31 KDVR is located at 100 Speer Boulevard. KDVR built their new home in 2000 for their then-new FOX31 News at 9pm. KWGN moved out of Englewood and moved in with KDVR in 2009. Meanwhile Tegna's existing duopoly NBC9 KUSA and MyDenver20 KTVD resides at 500 Speer Boulevard. KUSA built their home in 1992 while still an ABC affiliate. Looks like NBC9, MyDenver20, CW2 and FOX31 will have have to move out of their longtime homes and into a spacious new building. Possibly right in downtown Denver.

Also in Austin..where KXAN and KVUE are the top 2 stations in a growing city that's also Texas's state capitol. Add all of the other stations that Nexstar already owns there (KBVO, KNVA) and you have a definite conflict and market share issue.

Another thought... Meredith consolidated creative ops before the sale to Gray, then had to rebuild local creative teams across their stations. TEGNA consolidated creative ops in January... will they have to rebuild local creative teams post-merger? Does Nexstar decide to consolidate creative across their stations into regional hubs like TEGNA? Should be interesting.

Since neither Nexstar nor Tegna currently have a duopoly there, with the recent court ruling, as long as market share isn't extreme they can actually merge them cleanly.

The one market affected here I have an interest in is Columbus. Just like in all the other markets, a merger of the WCMH and WBNS-TV newsrooms is concerning. I know of a couple of on-air folks at the 10TV morning show who just got there within the last three months, and recently they've been promoting the return of Jeff Hogan like crazy. Now, it's a wait and see game for everyone at both 10TV and NBC4. Regarding facilities: Both WCMH and the WBNS stations' respective studios are more than 70 years old, and are four miles apart. Channels 4 and 10, and 97.1 also share the candelabra tower adjacent to the WBNS studios. It would make sense that WCMH make the move down Olentangy River Road to 770 Twin Rivers Drive (WBNS) for that reason alone. I also believe Tegna made some upgrades to the 'BNS plant in recent years, not including moving radio in there. Which brings us to... ...Nexstar will also be adding Tegna's only two radio stations, WBNS (AM) and WBNS-FM along with WBNS-TV. Both are in the sports format, but WBNS-FM is mostly live-and-local sports talk, and is the flagship of Ohio State football and men's hoops. The AM side runs syndicated sports talk (currently ESPN Radio) and operates on a graveyard signal, albeit with a vintage Blaw-Knox tower.

Many viewers have moved to Tampa Bay since they have been known as ABC Action News and will not associate the new name to the old one from the 90s. You would think they would mount an ad campaign and give viewers some time to adjust in the lead-up to such a change. This will take some getting used to.

ESPN went old school when Rich Eisen came back to SportsCenter tonight.

WSJ is reporting Sinclair has approached TEGNA with a merger offer. https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/tv-station-owner-sinclair-proposes-merger-with-tegna-4bd3bb86 Let the speculation commence!

At least moving expenses will be kept down and sharing staff will be easy. That really is a small market (they probably have a joking feud about who pays the snowplow bill).

WXIX Launched GrayONE Today.

I wish that local on the 8s were still use after they go to the reality TV shows as they haven't been airing them for the past couple of weeks.

I didn't think that Derek Hough would be the new host of Extra, congrats Derek on being named new host of Extra on Sep 8.

CPAC of all organizations just came out with a 17-page filing with the FCC opposing media consolidation. Along with the CWA union. The assumption this will sail through without opposition is a fever dream

This. There are no "good' (or heck, mediocre) companies that will get the scraps *if* there are parts of the merger that won't be allowed by the DOJ and FCC. Some strategic swaps that are mutually beneficial for big companies to minimize single station operations? Perhaps. But any spinoffs are going to be strictly to sidecars, spectrum speculators, and maybe some godcasters.

I was specifically talking about the Lawrence Welk rerun demographic who almost completely overlaps with the Republican base.