GoldenShine_10

https://www.wbbjtv.com/ WBBJ now has the Gray website design. I'd think it is a bit of a ways down from getting GrayONE, but I think a branding like First Alert could either occur sooner or with that.

Don't buy it at all.

Don't give him ideas, since they will start buying O&O's next.

Who knows. You'd be seeing a lot of .2 affiliates in that case.

https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/views/public/consummationDraftCopy?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff39d432e7c019d4448efd70073&id=25076ff39d432e7c019d4448efd70073&goBack=N The deals were consummated April 1 for those three stations, so Gray now owns them.

WTVM doesn't use the First Alert branding...that's unusual.

Say hello to a forced fire sale...

I believe the deal has been finalized. The stations are now showing Gray copyrights, and the FCC sites have changed to such as owners. Confirmation?

It's not just the conflicts, but the new market additions if the cap is an issue. The conflicts come in play if there is an antitrust issue.

Probably they aren't sure what their future holds, although I suspect WFAA would stay with Nexstar and KDAF would be sold off.

The courts will likely intervene if that happened.

https://thedesk.net/2026/03/judge-grants-restraining-order-nexstar-tegna-deal/ Restraining order granted by judge. Full order: https://thedesk.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-Nexstar-TEGNA-restraining-order-granted.pdf

Say hello to a lot of .2's and .3's having networks as they move to more stable operations.

It hasn't been consummated yet.

In 2 (and 4), it depends on the ruling. It could be either. In 3 (and 4), correct, since the antitrust ruling would not apply they can keep everything in their bloated markets. As far as legacy stations, probably not. However, if a buyer wants a legacy Nexstar station instead of the acquired Tegna station in a market, then the courts might entertain that as long as it gets back into compliance if Scenario 1 is not the end result.

Yes, that is correct. Looking through the court cases, I see four (not three) scenarios. 1) Everything is a-ok. The cap is advisory and there is no antitrust issue, so Tegna can be absorbed into Nexstar without any legal repercussions. This would be a big win for Nexstar. 2) The cap is advisory and Nexstar is not violating that, but there ARE antitrust issues in certain markets (overlap markets mainly) that warrant a sale to an independent third party. In this case, the states' case is accepted but the interest groups' case is denied. 3) The cap is the law and Nexstar must sell Tegna stations in newly acquired markets. However, there are no antitrust issues, so they can keep the overlaps within existing markets. This is the opposite scenario to Scenario 2. 4) Both antitrust and cap violations are found (basically a combination of both Scenarios 2 and 3), which basically requires a near-unwinding of the deal. This is the nuclear option if they don't get their way and both sets of plaintiffs win.

Notice that Gray is having a harder time getting the overall deals through, since they didn't suck up to the administration they are actually having to get hearings on the rest of the pie.

It's a 3-branch government though. The FCC and DOJ are in only one of the branches. It's up to interpretation by the judicial of what the legislative branch wrote in 2004 (and Clayton Act previously).

That is correct. This may end up in the Supreme Court. One possibility is that a Hold Separate order is given until the courts sort it out.

But other courts, like the 9th Circuit, would step in - and as we saw with the tariffs, even the Supreme Court can stop them if this is a blatant violation of federal law.

The FCC and DOJ cannot get past the law though. All other deals were done within the framework of the law (or denied in a few cases). This is a blatant disregard of laws set by Congress.

Correct, since that would violate the national cap as well. (Alternatively, they could keep them and sell equal or more of other markets. But a court would have to supervise.)

In the "reversal" scenario, which can only come from the courts as the FCC and DOJ have shown dereliction of duty, they would not rebuild Tegna as it no longer exists. Nexstar would be forced to divest (at fire sale prices most likely given the lack of buyers and the fact that Nexstar has zero leverage in a court-ordered sale) until they are in a legal position - i.e. no more than 2 stations per market, reasonable in antitrust, and no more than a UHF-adjusted 39%. Those would go to other companies.

Those are the unknowns. There really are 3 scenarios: let it stand (as with DOJ/FCC under Trump), force sale of conflicts, or void the sale altogether (which creates a free-for-all as the stations become homeless).

Federal and state courts will be the ones calling the shots.