Nexstar to acquire Tegna

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

3 minutes ago, Weeters said:

If Trump was so upset about Colbert, he'd be gone already. The show would have gone on summer hiatus and never returned. They would have paid out the rest of his contract and that would have been that. It would have been a drop in the bucket compared to the purchase price. They, instead, gave him ~10 months to continue to make jokes at Trump's expense. Not sure if you've been watching the same Trump I have, but the one I've been watching would have wanted him gone immediately, not next year.

 

The show was losing money, it's that simple. His contract was up next May, they chose not to renew. It was cheaper to continue the show as-is than pay out whatever is left on his contract plus penalties. This isn't some grand conspiracy, it's the realities of the industry. Late night is dead.

 

Can you please cite me evidence that it was losing money other than Paramount management saying so?

[Weeters 2173]

33 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Can you please cite me evidence that it was losing money other than Paramount management saying so?

https://latenighter.com/features/analyst-network-late-night-talk-shows-became-unprofitable-in-2023/

 

Quote

We asked a network TV research analyst familiar with the financial realities of late night television from the inside (at networks other than CBS) for their thoughts on whether that number rang true.

 

Their response was a qualified yes: “I would believe anywhere between $25M-$40M.”

 

“Revenues have dropped at a pace that far outstrips the speed at which costs can be reduced,” added the analyst, who asked to remain anonymous but shared financial modeling with LateNighter for this story. 

Quote

By 2018 the writing was on the wall that the time period that was once a cash cow was in free fall. According to one frequently cited report from the advertising data firm Guideline, brands spent $439 million advertising on network late-night television that year. By 2024, that number had been cut in half. 

 

And it was happening under Letterman too. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/david-letterman-s-late-show-by-the-numbers-214329990.html
 

Quote

According to Ad Age, in 2009 The Late Show pulled in $271 million in advertising revenue, almost $100 million more than Jay Leno's Tonight show at the time. But with the late night landscape fragmenting and cable pulling in more of the young viewers advertisers want, ratings and revenues have been a struggle for The Late Show. While Letterman was a comfortable second to Leno in the ratings race for years, he recently slipped to third behind Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon in the key 18-49 demographic and that's had an impact on the bottom line. Kantar Media research shows that Late Show revenue was $114.5 million in 2014, down from $129.6 million in 2013.

 

Read both of those articles closely. In 2009, The Late Show was pulling in the same ad revenue as all of late-night television in 2024.

 

TV is a dying medium, it doesn't need conspiracy theories to explain why things are getting cut.

 

EDIT: As a bonus, days before the Colbert cancellation announcement dropped, Nielsen reported that broadcast television viewership had dropped below 20% for the first time.

Quote

For the first time since Nielsen began tracking TV use by platform four years ago — and probably the first time ever, considering broadcast’s dominant place for much of television history — over-the-air networks accounted for less than 20 percent of viewing in June. The ratings service’s monthly Gauge rankings show broadcast at 18.5 percent for the month, down from 20.1 percent in May.

You tell me how the show is magically extremely profitable when there's barely more people watching than there was under Letterman 10 years ago.

[NowBergen 924]

4 hours ago, Weeters said:

If Trump was so upset about Colbert, he'd be gone already. The show would have gone on summer hiatus and never returned. They would have paid out the rest of his contract and that would have been that. It would have been a drop in the bucket compared to the purchase price. They, instead, gave him ~10 months to continue to make jokes at Trump's expense. Not sure if you've been watching the same Trump I have, but the one I've been watching would have wanted him gone immediately, not next year.

 

The show was losing money, it's that simple. His contract was up next May, they chose not to renew. It was cheaper to continue the show as-is than pay out whatever is left on his contract plus penalties. This isn't some grand conspiracy, it's the realities of the industry. Late night is dead.

 

trump's ego loves when he is the center of attention, whether good or bad.  He wants people talking about him.  And if it's not in his favor, he gets to grandstand about it. It is his form of self gratification.  Just like the North Korea style praise he gets from all around him.  He literally gets off on it.  And many have found it to be a smart strategy to get his positive attention including the Europeans the other day.  He will milk Colbert's satire until the lights at the Ed Sullivan Theater are shut off.  

[Rusty Muck 4688]

5 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

Then why did Skydance fire Colbert? lol Leave it alone if you're going to sell it. I call bullshit.

Even if I were to go down that conspiracy theory rabbit hole, they're doing Colbert a favor by having him slowly give up an incredibly unprofitable time slot. James Corden's Late Late Show was bleeding money and viewers when it was cancelled two years ago. Seth Meyers had to give up his house band and it might not be enough to save Late Night. Lilly Singh's show was canned four years ago and never replaced.

 

To be very blunt, CBS is allowing Colbert to bow out with as much gracefulness as possible. It makes the network and owned-stations much more attractive to Nexstar. No one is going to run CBS with any degree of lavishness from the Paley or Moonves eras.

Edited August 20, 2025 by Rusty Muck

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Given all of the potential overlap, it may accelerate the networks to overhaul their schedules to accommodate for opening up the 10pm/9pm hour for local news.  Given the patchwork of affiliate crossovers, if it's a combo of ABC, NBC, and CBS, one shoe may have to drop so that a market can spread their late news between stations instead of simulcasting the same thing.

 

If Nexstar lands another network (like CBS), then it's a problem they can solve themselves.

[MediaZone4K 2662]

17 hours ago, newsman123 said:

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. 

 

17 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

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%. 

This!!! There's nothing like seeing Nexstar boast about record profits on the corporate page, while employees in stations as high as middle markets are making fast food level wages.

 

Now as much as I hate consolidation, what is the alternative? 

Edited August 20, 2025 by MediaZone4K

[NowBergen 924]

5 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Given all of the potential overlap, it may accelerate the networks to overhaul their schedules to accommodate for opening up the 10pm/9pm hour for local news. 

Why, so Nexstar, who already runs on the Cheapside,  "consolidates" newsrooms and constantly rebroadcast the same news over multiple departs and stations can do the same for another hour?  It's not like the Nexstars and Sinclairs come up with real unique programming that has staying power. 

[GraphicsMan 345]

9 hours ago, Rusty Muck said:

Skydance didn't want CBS. They only wanted Paramount Pictures to exploit that studio's IP and only had CBS forced on them by Shari Redstone. Of course they're going to dump CBS at the first opportunity and Nexstar is the odds-on favorite to grab it.

 

Yes, that means KCNC will soon be in common ownership with KUSA, KWGN, KTVD and KDVR.

No… I feel this is all political all these fcc changes.

[Big Rollo Smokes 324]

8 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Then why did Skydance fire Colbert? lol Leave it alone if you're going to sell it. I call bullshit.

Technically, it was Paramount Global who "fired" Colbert.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Here's hoping at the very least, should these stations be consolidated that Nexstar will keep separate shows with separate anchors, using a shared pool of reporters. That's how it's done in markets that have undergone consolidation.

 

The other option is to pre-record another show to air alongside the other station's news.  One studio with one staff and putting out the bare minimum on the secondary station.

 

Then, there's the straight simulcast.  Probably the worst option, but can be spinned in a way to make it look different than what's airing on the other station.

 

Either way, it's a lose lose for everyone.  More work for less unique product.

[Rusty Muck 4688]

2 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

This!!! There's nothing like seeing Nexstar boast about record profits on the corporate page, while employees in stations as high as middle markets are making fast food level wages.

The salary levels will only be depressed further after the mass firings take place. Meanwhile Perry will get another bonus as he continues to play pretend media mogul with his castle of sand.

[HanSolo 468]

2 hours ago, Big Rollo Smokes said:

Technically, it was Paramount Global who "fired" Colbert.

And by pure “coincidence” they got their deal done to be sold days later. 

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a damn duck. 
 

No one is arguing the world is what it was a decade ago, let alone multiple decades. But the timing and manner of the Colbert affair says all that needs to be said. It doesn’t matter if it was the orange baboon directly or the FCC staff doing some wink wink/nudge nudge in the background. Anyone with an ounce of common sense understands what happened. 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

3 hours ago, GraphicsMan said:

No… I feel this is all political all these fcc changes.

CBS was screwed the second Shari bundled it in with Paramount. That David Ellison hung CBS News out to dry while allowing himself to be pantsed by Carr in a Kabuki theatre stunt shows his utter disinterest in the network. It's a burden for him he doesn't want.

[Rusty Muck 4688]

49 minutes ago, HanSolo said:

And by pure “coincidence” they got their deal done to be sold days later. 

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a damn duck. 

The deal was done after 60 Minutes was killed off in broad daylight.

49 minutes ago, HanSolo said:

No one is arguing the world is what it was a decade ago, let alone multiple decades. But the timing and manner of the Colbert affair says all that needs to be said. It doesn’t matter if it was the orange baboon directly or the FCC staff doing some wink wink/nudge nudge in the background. Anyone with an ounce of common sense understands what happened. 

So why was Colbert not taken off the air immediately? Why are they keeping him on the air through May?

[AmericanErrorist 267]

12 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Then why did Skydance fire Colbert? lol Leave it alone if you're going to sell it. I call bullshit.

The decision to cancel him was made by the previous ownership as one of the last decisions they made on the way out.

[Rusty Muck 4688]

Meanwhile, Newsmax, whose cable opinion channel is a direct competitor with Nexstar's NewsNation, is against the deal. They hilariously claims NewsNation is "left-wing" because for Newsmax, facts always get in the way of the narrative they want to push.

[JRyan 694]

Respectfully, what does CBS' decisions on programming have anything to do with Nexstar and Tegna merging?

 

But the day Tegna would sell was nearly inevitable for a number of years by this point.  They just don't have the scale in today's economy to survive as a standalone company and operate as a large player.  Nexstar would be wise to divest stations in bigger markets especially.  I'm personally very concerned about Knoxville, Charlotte, and Denver.  Despite the apparent lack of language in the announcement, I suspect Nexstar will need to divest some stations.  And certain aspects of the current rules literally require an act of Congress to change.   I don't quite see this as a done deal, but time will tell.

Edited August 20, 2025 by TheRyan

[atlnewsfan03 93]

On 8/20/2025 at 2:35 PM, TheRyan said:

Respectfully, what does CBS' decisions on programming have anything to do with Nexstar and Tegna merging?

 

But the day Tegna would sell was nearly inevitable for a number of years by this point.  They just don't have the scale in today's economy to survive as a standalone company and operate as a large player.  Nexstar would be wise to divest stations in bigger markets especially.  I'm personally very concerned about Knoxville, Charlotte, and Denver.  Despite the apparent lack of language in the announcement, I suspect Nexstar will need to divest some stations.  And certain aspects of the current rules literally require an act of Congress to change.   I don't quite see this as a done deal, but time will tell.

I too agree that Nexstar would be smart to divest stations, especially the larger market stations, including Denver and Charlotte.  I'd even add places like Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis,  Columbus (Ohio), Sacramento, San Diego, Portland (Oregon), Hartford-New Haven, Norfolk, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Buffalo, to name a few.  As for who'd buy up divested stations would be a different discussion for a different day.

Edited August 21, 2025 by atlnewsfan03

[MichiganNewsGraphicsJunkie 1158]

39 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

Respectfully, what does CBS' decisions on programming have anything to do with Nexstar and Tegna merging?

 

But the day Tegna would sell was nearly inevitable for a number of years by this point.  They just don't have the scale in today's economy to survive as a standalone company and operate as a large player.  Nexstar would be wise to divest stations in bigger markets especially.  I'm personally very concerned about Knoxville, Charlotte, and Denver.  Despite the apparent lack of language in the announcement, I suspect Nexstar will need to divest some stations.  And certain aspects of the current rules literally require an act of Congress to change.   I don't quite see this as a done deal, but time will tell.

Agreed... This particular topic of CBS programming issues/debates/cancellations/etc should be moved to the CBS forum or the Speculatron...

[Rusty Muck 4688]

1 hour ago, TheRyan said:

Respectfully, what does CBS' decisions on programming have anything to do with Nexstar and Tegna merging?

CBS is very blatantly Nexstar's next takeover target after this goes through. Not only does it get them a second network and twinsticks in almost all the top 10 markets, but they also get another 12.5% of the CW as an added bonus.

1 hour ago, TheRyan said:

 

But the day Tegna would sell was nearly inevitable for a number of years by this point.  They just don't have the scale in today's economy to survive as a standalone company and operate as a large player.  Nexstar would be wise to divest stations in bigger markets especially.  I'm personally very concerned about Knoxville, Charlotte, and Denver.  Despite the apparent lack of language in the announcement, I suspect Nexstar will need to divest some stations.  And certain aspects of the current rules literally require an act of Congress to change.   I don't quite see this as a done deal, but time will tell.

WJZY openly told their viewers that they expect to control WCNC when this goes through. Perry is counting on Brendan Carr openly flaunting or ignoring the rules (which is 100% to be expected with this regime) and declare the cap as an outdated rule that no longer applies. Which is absolutely going to happen... what's the supple, pliable speaker Mike Johnson going to do when he's already fully doing the bidding of Carr's boss?

[JRyan 694]

If Nexstar actually tried to buy CBS, anti-trust laws would potentially come into play.  I don’t see that happening in the near term if ever.
 

I doubt that whoever made that graphic at WJZY had any special insider knowledge.  It’s a poor interpretation of the corporate press release that was turned into a hastily prepared graphic.  In my view, they read too much into the announcement.  The official announcement is just an initial one.   They should have said that Nexstar, WJZY’s parent company, has agreed to buy Tegna, which is WCNC’s parent company.  And they should’ve left it at that.  Anything more outside direct quotes is adding to the language of the actual announcement.

 

I’m sure we will hear more in the coming weeks and months as to the exact scope of how this transaction will happen.  The chances are high that Nexstar will need to divest some stations to get this through.  Just because the rules may be adapted or relaxed, it does not mean that rule-making and laws go away.  And it’s a maybe on rules changing, not a guarantee currently.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

If our administration ramrods this deal through as it is against our current regulations, expect it to be unceremoniusly overturned and even reversed by the next administration, whenever that is.

 

And Sinclair (and others) could sue their way into the deal, getting some of the stations that should rightfully be divested or some cash as a consolation prize.

[NowBergen 924]

32 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

If Nexstar actually tried to buy CBS, anti-trust laws would potentially come into play.  I don’t see that happening in the near term if ever.
 

I doubt that whoever made that graphic at WJZY had any special insider knowledge.  It’s a poor interpretation of the corporate press release that was turned into a hastily prepared graphic.  In my view, they read too much into the announcement.  The official announcement is just an initial one.   They should have said that Nexstar, WJZY’s parent company, has agreed to buy Tegna, which is WCNC’s parent company.  And they should’ve left it at that.  Anything more outside direct quotes is adding to the language of the actual announcement.

 

I’m sure we will hear more in the coming weeks and months as to the exact scope of how this transaction will happen.  The chances are high that Nexstar will need to divest some stations to get this through.  Just because the rules may be adapted or relaxed, it does not mean that rule-making and laws go away.  And it’s a maybe on rules changing, not a guarantee currently.

I would assume any relaxed rules will get rid of the obsolete UHF discount, and if so, Nexstar's current coverage would jump up without Tenga, and that could definitely result in station sales even with a higher cap.  

[Rusty Muck 4688]

26 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

If Nexstar actually tried to buy CBS, anti-trust laws would potentially come into play.  I don’t see that happening in the near term if ever.

Who's going to enforce said laws? A decimated, understaffed FTC? A DOJ led by whackjobs Kash Patel and Dan "Toasterhead" Bongino? Those safeguards we once had are gone.

31 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

I’m sure we will hear more in the coming weeks and months as to the exact scope of how this transaction will happen.  The chances are high that Nexstar will need to divest some stations to get this through.  Just because the rules may be adapted or relaxed, it does not mean that rule-making and laws go away.  And it’s a maybe on rules changing, not a guarantee currently.

We're talking about a lawless regime with zero credible opposition and zero oversight. Brendan Carr will flaunt or flagrantly break the rules to get his way because he's a political hack. He doesn't give a damn about a contempt of court because they can't enforce anything.

 

And no, Nexstar is not selling a single station. This is a dream scenario for a conglomerate whose sole existence has been centered around buying up everything.

[Rusty Muck 4688]

57 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

If our administration ramrods this deal through as it is against our current regulations, expect it to be unceremoniusly overturned and even reversed by the next administration, whenever that is.

 

And Sinclair (and others) could sue their way into the deal, getting some of the stations that should rightfully be divested or some cash as a consolation prize.

The only transaction the FCC has ever voided was the 1956 NBC-Westinghouse swap, and that took nearly a decade to resolve. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that any subsequent administration will wave a magic wand and undo approval of this merger. Nor will it rehire any of the thousands of staff that will be fired by Perry once this is ramrodded.

 

The fix is in.