Nexstar Media Group closed its $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna on March 19, completing a consolidation that had faced sustained legal and regulatory scrutiny up to the eve of approval.
The combined group controls 265 television stations across 44 states and Washington DC, making Nexstar by a considerable margin the largest owner of local broadcast stations in the country.
Both the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice cleared the transaction, according to CNBC and the New York Times. The FCC approval had been a significant uncertainty given the deal's scale and the commission's historical wariness around broadcast concentration.
Nexstar disclosed $5.1 billion in new debt associated with the acquisition, a leverage load that will draw scrutiny given the structural pressures facing the local television industry, including accelerating cord-cutting and declining advertising revenue.
The deal was first unveiled in August 2025. Note that one source cited a $3.5 billion figure for the transaction value, which appears inconsistent with the $6.2 billion figure reported by multiple other outlets and likely reflects an earlier or partial characterisation of the deal terms.
