Nexstar Claims Its $6.2 Billion Deal for Tegna Has Closed Following DOJ and FCC Approvals — After Eight States, DirecTV Sued to Block It

Nexstar Media Group said it “has closed its acquisition” of Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal that would following approval of the transaction from the FCC and the Department of Justice.

The deal would augment Nexstar, already the biggest TV station group in the U.S., with Tegna’s footprint — resulting in a company with 259 full-power stations (after divesting six), variously affiliated with networks including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. While the deal will give the combined company reach across 80% of U.S. TV households, it will own less than 15% of the 1,777 local TV stations in the country.

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Nexstar’s announcement comes after eight state attorneys general and DirecTV filed federal lawsuits seeking to block the Tegna takeover, which both alleged that the merger will increase prices for consumers and harm the production of local news.

In approving the deal, the FCC granted the companies a waiver of its ownership-cap rule that prohibits any local station owner from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households. Nexstar has committed to divesting six stations across six different markets as well as “commitments that go to affordability and localism,” per the FCC.

In a statement, Perry Sook (pictured above), Nexstar’s founder, chairman and CEO, gave a shout-out to President Donald Trump and FCC chairman Brendan Carr for “enabling this transaction to move forward.”

“This transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Perry Sook, Nexstar’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “By bringing these two outstanding companies together, Nexstar will be a stronger, more dynamic enterprise — better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities, and talent. We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr, and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and enabling this transaction to move forward.”

Carr said in a statement that with the deal’s approval, “the FCC acts mindful of the media marketplace that exits today — not the one from decades past — and the agency ensures that these broadcasters have the resources to continue investing in their local news operations.”

“The FCC has been focused on empowering broadcast TV stations to serve their local communities, consistent with their public interest obligations,” Carr said. “Today’s agency decision does exactly that as both the record and Nexstar’s enforceable commitments demonstrate.”

On Dec. 1, 2025, the FCC accepted for filing applications seeking approval to transfer control of certain TV stations from Tegna to Nexstar. At the time, Tegna operated 64 full power broadcast television stations, one AM radio station and one FM radio station. Nexstar operated 201 stations in 116 television markets.

According to the companies, their holdings overlapped in 35 designated market areas (DMAs), and the combined company would operate 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia and in 132 of the country’s 210 television DMAs. The applicants sought both a waiver of the FCC’s 39% TV station group ownership cap and waivers of the Local Television Ownership rule in 23 DMAs to allow it to own more than two stations in the DMA; in addition, the consolidated company would own two stations in each of 17 DMAs.

Nexstar committed to divest the following TV stations no later than two years following the Tegna deal close: KTVD, Denver, Colorado; WTHR, Indianapolis, Indiana; WCTX, New Haven, Connecticut; WAVY, Portsmouth, Virginia; WUPL, Slidell, Louisiana; and KNWA, Rogers, Arkansas.

According to the FCC’s order approving the transaction, Nexstar also committed to “expanding its investment in local news and programming, including increasing the amount of local news it provides in acquired markets.” Regarding “concerns about pricing and affordability,” Nexstar committed to offering pay-TV providers with which it has an existing retransmission agreement an extension of its agreement at the existing rates through Nov. 30, 2026. In addition, Nexstar committed to “equal opportunity employment and nondiscrimination.”

Nexstar announced its agreement to buy Tegna in August 2025.

The eight states that sued to block the Nexstar-Tegna merger in a lawsuit filed late Wednesday (March 18) — California, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut and Virginia — alleged that the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers that substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.

“This merger is illegal, plain and simple, running contrary to federal antitrust laws that protect consumers,”  California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “When broadcast media is owned by a handful of companies, we get fewer voices, less competition, and communities lose the critical check on power that local journalism delivers.”

Last September, Nexstar made headlines over its decision to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show on its ABC affiliates (along with rival Sinclair), over comments Kimmel made about the MAGA movement’s attempts to score political points from Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Nexstar’s decision was seen as an attempt to get in the good graces of FCC’s Carr, who had vigorously criticized Kimmel’s remarks and suggested local TV stations could lose their broadcast licenses if Kimmel were not taken off the air. Nexstar denied Carr’s remarks influenced its decision to pre-empt Kimmel’s show. Three days after ABC reinstated Kimmel, Nexstar agreed to start airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” again (as did Sinclair). Nexstar said Disney execs had taken a “constructive approach to addressing our concerns.” Sook, in a Sept. 26 memo to Nexstar staffers written with president/COO Mike Biard, also said Nexstar’s blackout of Kimmel wasn’t a First Amendment violation: “No one has an unlimited right to say whatever they want on a talk show.”