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Nexstar Buying TEGNA and its 64 Local Stations

ByPeter Gardner

Three months after Nexstar CEO Perry Sook salivated on an earnings call about the potential to gobble up rivals, he has a deal. Nexstar will buy TEGNA and its 64 local stations in a deal worth $6.2 billion.

When the deal closes sometime next year, Nexstar and its partners will have 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and Washington, D.C., covering 132 of the country’s 210 television markets covering 80% of U.S. TV households, the companies said. The combined company will have stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50.

There are 35 markets where Nexstar and TEGNA were previously competitors. In those markets, Nexstar may sell off one of the studios and shove both stations together in one newsroom. Those markets should expect less news coverage overall as the stations consolidate.

“The transaction will extend and deepen Nexstar’s presence in contested election markets with the addition of strong big four affiliates in key swing states, including Phoenix, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, Toledo, Ohio, and Portland, Maine,” said Michael Biard, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nexstar. “The addition of these stations enhances our political advertising opportunity, particularly in even-numbered election years.”

This deal is possible because President Trump’s FCC chairman Brendan Carr came out against rules that capped local TV station owners from reaching more than 39% of the national audience. In July, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the FCC’s rule barring a station group from owning more than one of the top four TV stations in a given market.

These rules were established to make sure one company doesn’t have too much control over what news you consume. In many American communities, there is no reliable source for news. Since 2005, more than 3,300 local newspapers have closed in the U.S. — that’s a loss of one-third of all American newspapers. In 2024, 55 million Americans lost their local news source. According to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, “More than half of the nation’s 3,143 counties have little to no local news.”

What Are the TEGNA Stations Nexstar Will Buy?

State/District of ColumbiaCityStation/websiteNetwork
AlabamaHuntsvilleWZDXCh. 54/FOX
ArizonaFlagstaffKNAZ-TVCh. 2/NBC
MesaKPNXCh. 12/NBC
TucsonKMSBCh. 11/FOX
KTTUCh. 18/CW
ArkansasFort SmithKFSM-TVCh. 5/CBS
Little RockKTHVCh. 11/CBS
CaliforniaSacramentoKXTVCh. 10/ABC
San DiegoKFMB-TVCh. 8/CBS
ColoradoDenverKTVDCh. 20/MNTV
KUSACh. 9/NBC
ConnecticutHartfordWTIC-TVCh. 61/FOX
WaterburyWCCT-TVCh. 20/CW
District of ColumbiaWashingtonWUSACh. 9/CBS
FloridaOrange ParkWJXXCh. 25/ABC
JacksonvilleWTLVCh. 12/NBC
St. PetersburgWTSPCh. 10/CBS
GeorgiaAtlantaWATLCh. 36/MNTV
WXIA-TVCh. 11/NBC
MaconWMAZ-TVCh. 13/CBS
IdahoBoiseKTVBCh. 7/NBC
IllinoisMolineWQAD-TVCh. 8/ABC
IndianaIndianapolisWTHRCh. 13/NBC
IowaAmesWOI-DTCh. 5/ABC
AmesKCWI-TVCh. 23/CW
KentuckyLouisvilleWHAS-TVCh. 11/ABC
LouisianaNew OrleansWWL-TV: Ch. 4/CBS
SlidellWUPLCh. 54/MNTV
MaineBangorWLBZCh. 2/NBC
PortlandWCSHCh. 6/NBC
MichiganGrand RapidsWZZMCh. 13/ABC
MinnesotaMinneapolisKARECh. 11/NBC
MissouriSt. LouisKSDKCh. 5/NBC
New YorkBuffaloWGRZCh. 2/NBC
North CarolinaCharlotteWCNC-TVCh. 36/NBC
GreensboroWFMY-TVCh. 2/CBS
OhioClevelandWKYC-TVCh. 3/NBC
ColumbusWBNS-TVCh. 10/CBS
ToledoWTOLCh. 11/CBS
OregonPortlandKGWCh. 8/NBC
PennsylvaniaScrantonWNEP-TVCh. 16/ABC
YorkWPMTCh. 43/FOX
South CarolinaColumbiaWLTXCh. 19/CBS
TennesseeKnoxvilleWBIR-TV: Ch. 10/NBC
MemphisWATN-TV: Ch. 24/ABC
WLMTCh. 30/CW
TexasAbileneKXVACh. 15/FOX
AustinKVUECh. 24/ABC
BeaumontKBMT Ch. 12/ABC
Corpus ChristiKIII-TVCh. 3/ABC
DallasWFAACh. 8/ABC
DecaturKFAA-TVCh. 29/IND
HoustonKHOUCh. 11/CBS
ConroeKTBUCh. 55/Quest
OdessaKWES-TVCh. 9/NBC
San AngeloKIDYCh. 6/FOX
San AntonioKENSCh. 5/CBS
NacogdochesKYTXCh. 19/CBS
TempleKCEN-TVCh. 9/NBC
VirginiaHamptonWVECCh. 13/ABC
WashingtonSeattleKING-TVCh. 5/NBC
EverettKONGCh. 16/IND
SpokaneKREMCh. 2/CBS
KSKNCh. 22/CW

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Peter Gardner cut the cord in 2017. He's Streaming Smarter's resident sci-fi fan - his favorite films include "Blade Runner," "Children of Men," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Gattaca." His favorite live TV streamer is Sling TV and his favorite on-demand service is HBO Max.

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