Nexstar Seeks Approval of TEGNA Acquisition From Federal Communications Commission
Company Files Applications for FCC Consent to Transfer TEGNA's Broadcast Licenses
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST), today announced that in connection with its pending acquisition of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), the companies have filed applications with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking consent to the transfer of the broadcast licenses currently controlled by TEGNA to Nexstar. The applications address why, if certain of the FCC's rules governing television ownership remain in effect, waiver of the rules would serve the public interest, especially in the local communities Nexstar's stations will serve.
In connection with the filing, Nexstar's Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Perry Sook, released the following statement:
"Nexstar's acquisition of TEGNA is vitally important to the future of local television and local journalism. We are grateful that the Trump administration and the FCC recognize that the current television ownership regulations are outdated and do not reflect the competitive media landscape as it has evolved over the past 25+ years. Like the Trump administration, we are focused on achieving deregulation, and we continue to advocate for the elimination of the antiquated constraints on local television ownership as the best solution to level the competitive playing field for all media.
"While waiting for the FCC to complete its rule-making process, we submitted waiver requests to bypass the major barriers that prevent us from competing fairly—including with legacy media and Big Tech— massive entities with vast resources that afford them enormous influence that extends into every pocket, purse and backpack of Americans everywhere.
"Nexstar was built on a commitment to serve its local communities by producing and airing the best possible broadcast journalism and programming. We remain true to that commitment today. Americans regularly rank local news as their most trusted source of information, and we are extremely proud of the more than 300,000 hours of news and local programming we produce across our television stations.
"To be clear, in an age of disinformation and political agendas, we are the anti-fake news. Our news is delivered by trusted, familiar voices—journalists who live in the community—not a chat-bot or social media influencers. And yet, we are prohibited from broadcasting trusted local news and programming to hundreds of communities across the country because of antiquated regulatory constraints. In an era where political discourse has turned increasingly polarized and violent, our democracy requires that Americans have easy access to reliable fact-based journalism and community forums to debate the issues of the day safely and respectfully.
"Nexstar's acquisition of TEGNA will provide us with the scale necessary for local journalism to thrive amidst a media landscape that is dominated by Big Tech and the legacy media companies, enabling us to continue not only investing in high-quality journalism and local news, but in serving our local communities in the best possible way."
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across its television and digital platforms, including more than 316,000 hours of programming produced annually by its business units. Nexstar owns America's largest local television broadcasting group comprised of top network affiliates, with more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people. Nexstar's national television properties include The CW, America's fifth major broadcast network, NewsNation, our national news network providing "News for All Americans," popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network. The Company's portfolio of digital assets, including its local TV station websites, The Hill and NewsNationNow.com, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property. For more information, please visit Nexstar.tv.
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