Nexstar to acquire Tegna

[mre29 1967]

57 minutes ago, carolinanews4 said:

The smart thing for Nexstar would have been to wait. Now they will have to explain what irreversible things they possibly could have done in the short period of time they were in control. Discovery on that may expose they were involved in decisions prior to closing, which is illegal.
 

They will probably also have to answer why they didn’t respond to inquiries by state attorneys general prior to closing and, if those AGs are smart, that path may lead to questions on whether Nexstar had any heads up or coordination with the federal government.

 

In short, could they close when they did? Sure. Should they have closed? Nope. 

 

Could Nexstar's impatience cost them most if not all of the Tegna stations?

 

[NowBergen 924]

7 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Could Nexstar's impatience cost them most if not all of the Tegna stations?

 

 

The plaintiffs (DirecTV, State AGs) isn't only about conflict markets but that Nexstar is way over the Congressionally set broadcast limits and so much of the industry being consolidated. If once the court cases are over and find for the plaintiffs, the court could call for the demerger in whole, or other options the court decides.  Again, only if Nexstar loses. Nexstar's arrogance, moving before official approvals, and how someone else described it as "the fix was in" could contribute to how the court sees things.  Nexstar may not go quietly, knowing they have the support of the orange president,  and appeal to SCOTUS, dragging. this out for years.  I would think moves Nexstar already has made with newsrooms staffing and consolidation, etc. aren't going to help.

[carolinanews4 455]

10 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Could Nexstar's impatience cost them most if not all of the Tegna stations?

 

 
Yes. Well, not their impatience per se but the deal itself might be deemed illegal. But it is equally possible that the deal stands. There’s a process - and not usually a quick one - that has to play out. Anyone who tells you they know how this will end is just guessing. 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Any remedy to this deal may result in a Nexstar footprint that may be different as it was before they acquired the Tegna stations, basically giving them the right to divest stations and hang onto different ones.

Case in point, Denver.  Let's say they're either forced to divest KUSA or KDVR.  They hang onto KUSA to pair with KWGN, and let's say Fox buys back KDVR and gets KTVD.  It's a win-win since KUSA gets KWGN to expand to, and KDVR and KTVD can be a Fox/Fox+ combo like in other places they have a duopoly.

I'll leave the rest to the speculatron as Nexstar may be forced to make choices between their top stations.

Edited April 4 by tyrannical bastard

[MidwestTV 1358]

47 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Any remedy to this deal may result in a Nexstar footprint that may be different as it was before they acquired the Tegna stations, basically giving them the right to divest stations and hang onto different ones.

Case in point, Denver.  Let's say they're either forced to divest KUSA or KDVR.  They hang onto KUSA to pair with KWGN, and let's say Fox buys back KDVR and gets KTVD.  It's a win-win since KUSA gets KWGN to expand to, and KDVR and KTVD can be a Fox/Fox+ combo like in other places they have a duopoly.

I'll leave the rest to the speculatron as Nexstar may be forced to make choices between their top stations.

 

Adding to the Speculatron here as I shouldn't be, but Nexstar would never give up KDVR. It's one of their best performing stations, a master control hub, and in a larger, newer building than KUSA. It even rents out space to Fox News.

[channel2 1042]

I mean, who built them that building? Not surprising they're still tight with Fox Corporation...

[mre29 1967]

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking Nexstar should be allowed to go ahead with at least some of the planned divestitures ASAP.

 

WTHR can be spun off now as it's a stand-alone station that isn't tied to a duopoly partner that Nexstar wants to keep. No technical issues involved.

 

The Hampton Roads conflict would require moving WVBT-specific resources and employees from WAVY's building to WVEC's....or changing the plan and divesting WVEC instead.

 

The others (KNWA, KTVD, WUPL, WCTX) are all in markets where Nexstar should be forced to divest two stations, not just one. Three of them, though (KTVD, WUPL, and WCTX), would likely have trouble being stand-alone stations and would need new duopoly partners. (I'd be surprised if Gray isn't already eying WUPL and WCTX.)

 

[carolinanews4 455]

2 hours ago, mre29 said:

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking Nexstar should be allowed to go ahead with at least some of the planned divestitures ASAP.

Divestitures won’t happen until Nexstar knows the final outcome of this deal. Why would they sell Nexstar owned stations now if the deal is later blocked on antitrust grounds? That’s like selling your house before you know you are going to get a new house.
 

And they can’t sell Tegna owned stations because they technically don’t own them at the moment. So everything will be status quo until the state of limbo is resolved. 

[Weeters 2173]

I wouldn't get my hopes up that the divestures will go anywhere other than Mission. There is a two-year timer on them that started when the deal closed, that gives Mission plenty of time to come up with the cash needed.

 

 

 

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

9 hours ago, Weeters said:

I wouldn't get my hopes up that the divestures will go anywhere other than Mission. There is a two-year timer on them that started when the deal closed, that gives Mission plenty of time to come up with the cash needed.

 

I called this play out earlier. Nexstar won't play ethically, of course.

[NowBergen 924]

1 hour ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

I called this play out earlier. Nexstar won't play ethically, of course.

 

Like we are seeing with other cases, many federal judges are impatient when it comes to unethical legal maneuvers.  Hopefully this will be the case as well.  Especially with the fix being in so blatantly between the administration and Nexstar, rules and protocol be damned.

[NEOMatrix 1319]

14 hours ago, Weeters said:

I wouldn't get my hopes up that the divestures will go anywhere other than Mission. There is a two-year timer on them that started when the deal closed, that gives Mission plenty of time to come up with the cash needed.

 

 

 

Also, not only that, but what’s to stop Nexstar from playing the same “Doopliss” game that Sinclair is playing?

[NowBergen 924]

41 minutes ago, NEOMatrix said:

Also, not only that, but what’s to stop Nexstar from playing the same “Doopliss” game that Sinclair is playing?

Right now there is a TRO to prevent any more immediate moves, and, a hearing coming up. Hopefully someone was appointed to monitor Nexstar to be sure they are in compliance and made no further consolidation, network moves etc with the TRO.  When all is said and done it will depend on the final court ruling and subsequent appeals.  Hopefully the TRO continues through the process.  The final ruling may prevent Nexstar from selling any former Tegna stations to related entities like Mission or other side cars.  That gets to the point of the issue and caps, and, was a voiced concern from the previous FCC (although directed at WPIX's license). Whether the court cases are successful is another matter. 

[mre29 1967]

Of course, Nexstar could simply sell a bunch of the forced divestitures to Sinclair and achieve the same ideological results.

 

[l_miro 245]

arguments just started around 5:15pm
DirecTV and States are arguing jointly

Nexstar arguing other affiliates are substitutes if their stations are in blackout

they've been chewing on what relative market is for over 20 minutes

 

6:10pm still going

Nexstar argued cord cutting lowered rates
DirecTV lawyer arguing for plaintiffs buried them when he started reading verbatim off Nexstar SEC filings of them telling investors retrans rates were going up even though cord cutting reduced users 

 

 

 

Edited April 7 by l_miro

[NowBergen 924]

23 minutes ago, l_miro said:

 

Nexstar arguing other affiliates are substitutes if their stations are in blackout

 

 

 

 

 

Other affiliates may offer local news but do not offer other network programming and sports.  Other than Fox, the big 3 networks provide morning, daytime and evening programming, with time for local news. Are they losing sight of the bigger picture trying to argue you can get local news elsewhere?  

[l_miro 245]

Nexstar was asking for $150 mil bond, which was supposed to be redacted, but slipped out and refused to say how they calculated the amount

 

7:32 pm judge ordered the public out to discuss confidential information. He mentioned a written order so it's probably not going to be a bench decision

[carolinanews4 455]

2 hours ago, l_miro said:

Nexstar argued cord cutting lowered rates
DirecTV lawyer arguing for plaintiffs buried them when he started reading verbatim off Nexstar SEC filings of them telling investors retrans rates were going up even though cord cutting reduced users 

HA! Now that’s good lawyering.
 

What the heck was Nexstar thinking making a claim in front of a judge that your own SEC filing disputes. Begs the question, which audience were they lying to?? 

[Breaking News 888]

From the LA Times

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-04-07/judge-slammed-brakes-on-nexstar-tegna-tv-merger

 

https://thedesk.net/2026/04/nexstar-tegna-injunction-court-hearing/

 

https://thedesk.net/2026/04/california-doj-warned-nexstar-of-probe-in-tegna-merger/

 

 

Edited April 9 by Breaking News

[Glimmer 340]

Judge extends TRO another week

[l_miro 245]

TRO is modified and extended to April 17, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. PDT so judge can make a decision. The States submitted a good chunk of evidence yesterday under seal, and DirecTV filed a brief arguing Nexstar submitted undated documents that don't include pre-merger agreements, or much that proves assertions about Tegna planned cost cutting before the merger

 

we can't read the sealed documents but it sounds like either Nexstar was required to absorb TEGNA due to the Bank of America's high-interest 7-day bridge loan and upcoming bond sale, i think 3-4 days later, or they anticipated what the States might do with their pending lawsuit, and moved to absorb TEGNA quickly since courts have limited power on how far back they can rewind the merger. The judge will probably bring that up in his final decision.

 

Edited April 10 by l_miro

[mre29 1967]

Bring out the pins, needles, and baited breath.

 

[Georgie56 3661]

Nexstar is replacing network packages within local newscasts (CBS Newspath, ABC NewsOne, NBC News channel, Fox Newsedge) with NewsNation packages.

[TVLurker 389]

5 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Nexstar is replacing network packages within local newscasts (CBS Newspath, ABC NewsOne, NBC News channel, Fox Newsedge) with NewsNation packages.

that sounds like they're playing with fire, I didn't think they would go ahead and do it but they did. 

 

Which network is going to threaten to disaffiliate with Nexstar first?

[GoldenShine_10 263]

26 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

that sounds like they're playing with fire, I didn't think they would go ahead and do it but they did. 

 

Which network is going to threaten to disaffiliate with Nexstar first?

 

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