Nexstar to acquire Tegna

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

Just now, GraphicsMan said:

I’m confused. So then the courts ohhhh now I get it essentially there not gonna help.

 

If anything, it will be a breakup like the breakup of the original All Telephone & Telegraph.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

This is probably the worst deal to hit broadcast television since all of the RKO General corruption came to light or when NBC forced themselves on Philadelphia only to send KYW packing to Cleveland for a few years.

 

I won't believe a thing until the bodies pile up from all of the stations Nexstar should have no control over.  That's when the REAL lawsuits should start flying.

And if Nexstar ILLEGALLY takes over these stations, they should be held liable and fined into oblivion.  Much like when Media General took back WAGT for a few days against a legimate transfer of ownership that they refused to comply with.

 

But the way things are headed, this is just a fraction of the problems in our country today.  Laws be damned.

 

-30-
 

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

Just now, tyrannical bastard said:

This is probably the worst deal to hit broadcast television since all of the RKO General corruption came to light or when NBC forced themselves on Philadelphia only to send KYW packing to Cleveland for a few years.

 

I won't believe a thing until the bodies pile up from all of the stations Nexstar should have no control over.  That's when the REAL lawsuits should start flying.

And if Nexstar ILLEGALLY takes over these stations, they should be held liable and fined into oblivion.  Much like when Media General took back WAGT for a few days against a legimate transfer of ownership that they refused to comply with.

 

But the way things are headed, this is just a fraction of the problems in our country today.  Laws be damned.

 

-30-
 

 

Completely agreed with you!

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

I seriously have problems comprehending that our FCC AND DOJ actually approved this deal.

 

That is how screwed up our government is.

 

There's so much more these bastards deserve than being voted out of office.

[DENDude 259]

4 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

If anything, it will be a breakup like the breakup of the original All Telephone & Telegraph.

American Telephone & Telegraph 

[GraphicsMan 345]

5 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

If anything, it will be a breakup like the breakup of the original All Telephone & Telegraph.

So a few divestitures I could see Paramount-Skydance, FOX, Hearst and a few other jumping into buy some spun off stations.

[NowBergen 924]

I have a very hard time believing the FCC and DOJ approvals on the same day as the lawsuits were filed is a coincidence. Seems extremely underhanded - or should I say a corrupt administration  rewarding a broadcaster that bends the knee.  The real losers are viewers who lose independent voices after newsrooms are closed and consolidated.  

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

1 hour ago, Archiva said:

Nexstar is going to divest WTHR, WAVY, KTVD, WUPL, KNWA and WCTX, per the FCC document. 
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-267A1.pdf

 

Aside from WAVY and WTHR, these divestitures are a joke.  Stations that are tied to the hips of their parent stations instead of the standalone ones that should have been sold off.

 

KTVD is tied to KUSA.  Both of these should have been divested to another party.

WUPL is tied to WWL.  I cringe to think how much more Nexstar can destroy WWL than what Tegna has already done.

KNWA is tied to KFTA. 

WCTX is tied to WTIC.  

 

And this leaves out other major conflicts in places like Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Columbus, Cleveland, Little Rock, Memphis, Portland, St. Louis, Quad Cities, Grand Rapids, and others where Nexstar now owns 3 or more stations.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

I see 3 scenarios here now that the FCC and DOJ, as expected, showed dereliction of duty:

 

1) The courts let this stand. That would be a disaster. The next breakup chance would be 2029.

 

2) The courts order additional divestitures (i.e., district or state courts), probably including major stations, on antitrust and legal rules (not FCC guidelines which seem to be waived by Carr).

 

3) The courts void the deal, forcing a new owner to come in or putting a strong suspension on Nexstar.

[phillynewslover 166]

Just another deplorable and foreboding moment for this industry and this country.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

I hope the courts do overturn this deal and Nexstar is forced to divest all of the Tegna stations.

 

And since Tegna no longer technically exists, Nexstar should be forced to sell these stations as going concerns...or be forced to restore the stations to the way they were before they took over them.

[JRyan 694]

I'm genuinely finding it surreal that the deal was both approved and closed at the same time, for a deal as large as this.

 

Did I miss where the FCC actually changed the ownership cap rules?  All I know is Commissioner Carr was floating the idea, but I don't recall the rule being amended or changed formally.

Edited March 20 by JRyan

[GoldenShine_10 263]

Just now, JRyan said:

I'm genuinely finding it surreal that the deal was both approved and closed at the same time, for a deal as large as this.

 

Did I miss where the FCC actually changed the ownership cap rules?  All I know is Commissioner Carr was floating the idea, but I don't recall the rule being amended or changed formally.

 

This was likely rushed by order of Trump through a friendly FCC and DOJ. If a court steps in, they will likely not "rebuild" Tegna, but rather be forced to sell them all to other companies.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

2 minutes ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

This was likely rushed by order of Trump through a friendly FCC and DOJ. If a court steps in, they will likely not "rebuild" Tegna, but rather be forced to sell them all to other companies.

Basically Brendan Carr kissed Dear Leader's ass or the other way around. 

 

Any judge with judicial competence  should be able to nullify this deal if no laws were actually changed.

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

3 minutes ago, JRyan said:

I'm genuinely finding it surreal that the deal was both approved and closed at the same time, for a deal as large as this.

 

Did I miss where the FCC actually changed the ownership cap rules?  All I know is Commissioner Carr was floating the idea, but I don't recall the rule being amended or changed formally.

 

They didn't change it. They're ignoring it.

[AmericanErrorist 267]

2 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

They didn't change it. They're ignoring it.

Officially, they've issued a waiver.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

2 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Basically Brendan Carr kissed Dear Leader's ass or the other way around. 

 

Any judge with judicial competence  should be able to nullify this deal if no laws were actually changed.

 

And then this gets INCREDIBLY messy. The ex-Tegna stations become an "all you can eat buffet".

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

4 minutes ago, AmericanErrorist said:

Officially, they've issued a waiver.

 

Officially, I can breath underwater. On paper I have gills.

[JRyan 694]

You would think that they would be just as bold as to drop the ownership cap rules, because this deal flies in the face of any standard against a monopoly or excessive market control.  Yet, they give numerous waivers and not make a rule change.  At this point, what good is it to have any written rules by the FCC on its books?

[GoldenShine_10 263]

6 minutes ago, JRyan said:

You would think that they would be just as bold as to drop the ownership cap rules, because this deal flies in the face of any standard against a monopoly or excessive market control.  Yet, they give numerous waivers and not make a rule change.  At this point, what good is it to have any written rules by the FCC on its books?

 

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

[Weeters 2173]

10 minutes ago, JRyan said:

You would think that they would be just as bold as to drop the ownership cap rules, because this deal flies in the face of any standard against a monopoly or excessive market control.  Yet, they give numerous waivers and not make a rule change.  At this point, what good is it to have any written rules by the FCC on its books?

Nexstar basically states they are expecting the cap to be gone before they have to divest the handful of stations they committed to.

 

Quote

Nexstar commits to divesting these stations “no later than two years following the TEGNA Closing Date, provided that a waiver of the Local TVO Rule remains necessary under the Commission’s rules at such time.”

 

[nickp 393]

the states sue to have it be broken up? Or force major concessions and divestments?

[AmericanErrorist 267]

28 minutes ago, JRyan said:

You would think that they would be just as bold as to drop the ownership cap rules, because this deal flies in the face of any standard against a monopoly or excessive market control.  Yet, they give numerous waivers and not make a rule change.  At this point, what good is it to have any written rules by the FCC on its books?

Trump said that an outright lift of the ownership cap would allow the network O&O groups to buy more stations.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

14 minutes ago, nickp said:

the states sue to have it be broken up? Or force major concessions and divestments?

 

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).

[mre29 1967]

Well, crap.

 

There are a bunch of markets that will go from four separately-owned news-producing stations to three (such as Portland, OR, and here in CT), but there are also some that will go from three separately-owned to two (Sacramento, possibly Hampton Roads). Not good.

 

1 hour ago, AmericanErrorist said:

Note that the deal closed on the very day DirecTV and the states filed their lawsuits, a timing masterstroke on the part of Nexstar and the FCC.

 

And probably too late for Jimmy Kimmel to comment on it before the weekend, too.

 

2 hours ago, Archiva said:

Nexstar is going to divest WTHR, WAVY, KTVD, WUPL, KNWA and WCTX, per the FCC document. 
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-267A1.pdf

 

Currently, three of those (WTHR, WAVY, and KNWA) are NBC affiliates. How much do you want to bet those affiliations are going to get moved to subchannels of stations Nexstar's keeping? (If I ran NBC, I'd be informing them the affiliations are staying with those stations, thank you very much.)