Nexstar and Tegna to Merge

[thenetwork]

There are some long-tenured TV people at both the two affected channels in Cleveland (WKYC/3 AND WJW/8). And unfortunately, most of them will likely be on the unemployment line come summer as they will consolidate staff and fire the people with the highest salaries.

[MikeTheActuary]

Judge hits the pause button on the merger:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-pauses-merger-tv-station-owners-nexstar-tegna-rcna265626

This is a result of an antitrust complaint from DirecTV, not the state AGs.

[bing101]

Here is the hearing of the Nexstar lawsuit.

https://patch.com/california/sacramento/boycott-nexstar-medias-alarming-merger-tegna-inc-nodx

[bing101]

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2026/3/30/nexstar-tells-stations-to-cut-nbc-news-channel

Here is More this time on Nexstar.

Nexstar sources tell FTVLive that before the federal judge paused the Nexstar Tegna merger, Tegna NBC affiliates were told that starting today (March 31) it would be the last day using the affiliate service and that no more using reporters, packages, or even taking live special reports.
Now with the TRO in place, Nexstar has backed off the orders to the Tegna station.
Nexstar told the NBC affiliates that they would instead use News Nation moving forward. Nexstar had already nixed the NBC News Channel contract for their stations prior to the merger. 

[SP Cook]

While equally totally preempted by the FCC's final ruling, and thus, subject to Rule 11 (b) sanctions, DirecTV's point is fair.  Unlike the state AG's. 

DirecTV, and every other such provider, is forced to play in an unfair congressionally created system of "retransmission consent" where you actually have to PAY for free TV that is broadcast over the air (the public's air).  This unfair system punishes rural Americans, who cannot get TV OTA due to the network's regulatory capture of the FCC decades ago. 

DirecTV's position is obviously weaker if it could lose three or four networks in a given city and at the same time, the same in maybe 100 cities. 

The solution, of course, is to return to the Fortnightly case.  Local TV should be free.

[MikeTheActuary]

The solution, of course, is to return to the Fortnightly case.  Local TV should be free.

Actually, I would argue that given the changes in how Americans seek to anesthetize their brains with video entertainment, it might be time to wipe the board of federal media regulations, and start fresh, recognizing that linear TV (regardless of how delivered) is becoming increasingly irrelevant, but still recognizing the need to ensure Americans have access to relevant local information (news, weather forecasts, emergency announcements, etc.).

[bandit957]

I think we should go back to analog TV, quite frankly.

[Bobby5280]

The same weird rules applied to analog TV. Moving to digital did nothing to modernize government regulations on TV.

[Scott5114]

The solution, of course, is to return to the Fortnightly case.  Local TV should be free.

Actually, I would argue that given the changes in how Americans seek to anesthetize their brains with video entertainment, it might be time to wipe the board of federal media regulations, and start fresh, recognizing that linear TV (regardless of how delivered) is becoming increasingly irrelevant, but still recognizing the need to ensure Americans have access to relevant local information (news, weather forecasts, emergency announcements, etc.).

I think it would be fun if we passed a law requiring social media platforms to publish the source code to their algorithms prominently on the site. This would make the secret sauce un-secret, thereby leveling the playing field for users by allowing them to determine how to have their posts exposed to followers, as well as allowing them to make an informed decision to not participate in the platform if they think the algorithm is unfair.

[Molandfreak]

The solution, of course, is to return to the Fortnightly case.  Local TV should be free.

Actually, I would argue that given the changes in how Americans seek to anesthetize their brains with video entertainment, it might be time to wipe the board of federal media regulations, and start fresh, recognizing that linear TV (regardless of how delivered) is becoming increasingly irrelevant, but still recognizing the need to ensure Americans have access to relevant local information (news, weather forecasts, emergency announcements, etc.).

Is it no longer the case that OTA channels are available for free when you have an antenna? I have mentioned that I also preferred OTA broadcasts over analog, but I don't know if the technology to deliver digital broadcasts has improved since I tried it for the first and last time in 2009.

[MikeTheActuary]

Is it no longer the case that OTA channels are available for free when you have an antenna? I have mentioned that I also preferred OTA broadcasts over analog, but I don't know if the technology to deliver digital broadcasts has improved since I tried it for the first and last time in 2009.

There is a push by some interests to force the transition to ATSC 3.0, which I think includes support for pay-TV, along with better viewer-tracking for the broadcasters.

Ignoring the potential changes should ATSC3 gain wider acceptance, OTA signals are still available for free, but the nature of the digital transmissions and the shift to UHF frequencies mean that the number of households who could receive watchable signals without setting up outdoor antennas has declined, and fringe area coverage has arguably become more questionable.  I understand that ATSC3 is capable of delivering higher-quality video than ATSC1, but it's unclear that broadcasters would make use of that functionality (I assume that it would constrain their ability to deliver multiple video streams and data services on a single signal).

The challenge OTA TV broadcasters face is that they are competing in a world where consumers can choose to watch programming of their choosing, with or without advertising (depending on whether/how much they're willing to pay), at times of their choosing, and that makes it pretty damned difficult for services that deliver homogenized/curated programming at fixed times to compete.

Sure, the OTA broadcasters have a built-in advantage when it comes to segments of the population that lack access to the internet, but that is an increasingly small portion of the public which is either located in areas that also naturally have poor TV reception, or which is least-likely to be able to afford the equipment necessary to receive it.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that OTA TV is dead or has no place in the future, but the current business model is definitely not healthy, and there will be some casualties in the industry as it transitions to something more viable/sustainable.

I would be willing to bet that if/when professional sports ever transitions to a point where it becomes possible for a normal person to subscribe to a single team's games (as opposed to needing to turn to umpteen different services, and/or subscribe to an expensive all-teams package)...that would be a significant step towards the old business model having failed, and a new one being necessary.

FWIW, the only live TV I have watched at home in the past at least 5 years are some football (soccer) matches, and they were all delivered via internet streaming.   I did watch, or at least have playing, TV in my hotel rooms in a couple of trips to Europe last year, but that was either to get local information -- my London trip last year accidentally coincided with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day -- or to help my brain remember the German I supposedly learned in highs school / college, or to satisfy old curiosity about international programming / commercials....and even that programming was not delivered OTA.  (I was actually disappointed that I couldn't get the full set of Freeview channels on my hotel TV, and I probably won't bother when I go over next month.)

[Bobby5280]

I understand that ATSC3 is capable of delivering higher-quality video than ATSC1, but it's unclear that broadcasters would make use of that functionality (I assume that it would constrain their ability to deliver multiple video streams and data services on a single signal).

The OTA broadcasters need to focus on programming quality rather than quantity. Most local TV stations have various ".2", ".3," etc. sub-channels, which divides away data bandwidth from their primary ".1" channel. What do they show on those sub-channels? Mostly crap. It could be endless infomercials or an image of the weather radar.

The primary channels suck bad enough as it is. I can't get my local ABC station on Dish anymore, but at the same time I don't really miss it that much. Do we really need episodes of the "Family Feud" game show in prime time? Or multiple nights of "The Bachelor/Bachelorette"? It seems clear to me the major broadcast networks aren't willing to pay for very much quality drama/comedy series production. They prefer saving a buck and rolling with shitty reality TV shows and, lately, game shows.

Basic cable TV channels are just as much a wasteland, if not more so. Most of them fill big chunks of their programming blocks with infomercials. Too much of the "original programming" is reality TV shows; they'll show marathon blocks of past episodes to fill time they wouldn't otherwise fill with infomercials.

It's no wonder so many people under age 50 have resorted to either watching shows on streaming apps (Netflix, Prime Video, etc.) or just pulling up YouTube on their TV or phone.

[Scott5114]

They prefer saving a buck and rolling with shitty reality TV shows and, lately, game shows.

And as a fan of game shows, they're usually not even good game shows.

[bing101]

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

Here is more on the court hearing with Nexstar.

[Bobby5280]

I really do hope the Nexstar-Tegna merger is permanently blocked. I think the issue may go all the way to the conservatively-stacked Supreme Court. Injunctions from District Court Judges won't be enough to put an end to the merger.

Government corruption on the local and state levels would flourish if all the corporate consolidation of local TV stations and newspapers being put into motion is allowed to be finalized. This is an organized effort that follows Viktor Orbán's playbook on what he did in Hungary. Americans would be dealing with more problems than merely paying more money to watch local TV channels on cable/satellite TV service.

[bandit957]

The states need to enforce their own antitrust laws also.

At minimum, if Nexstar and Tegna are able to merge, stations owned by the company should have to forfeit cable exclusivity and allow cable systems to pick up different network affiliates. The exclusivity rule should only protect smaller broadcasters.

[Scott5114]

Government corruption on the local and state levels would flourish if all the corporate consolidation of local TV stations and newspapers being put into motion is allowed to be finalized. This is an organized effort that follows Viktor Orbán's playbook on what he did in Hungary.

Of course, the bad news for would-be Orbáns is they're doing their media consolidation right as people at large have mostly stopped paying attention to network television. If someone were to tell me "There's something on CBS right now you need to see, turn it on immediately!" I have to confess I don't have the foggiest idea of how I'd even do that. We don't have any antennae, and I guess there might be some way to stream it on our TVs but I don't know where in the menu I'd go to do that. Hell, I don't know how to even get to the streaming services we actually pay for.

They're attempting to consolidate Internet media too but it's a lot harder to do because websites are so easy to stand up. When the new owner of Twitter started pushing it in a direction people didn't like, Threads and Bluesky sprang up overnight as a replacement. If you're cool with having a smaller niche community and don't mind goofing around with software in your spare time, you can host a Web forum like this one for $30/month. And of course even if you consolidate all of the media in America that doesn't mean people can't easily read, say, British news. So media consolidation doesn't go as far as it did when 20th century dictators tried it.

[kphoger]

We don't have any antennae

Bug people!

[Bobby5280]

Of course, the bad news for would-be Orbáns is they're doing their media consolidation right as people at large have mostly stopped paying attention to network television.

People not paying attention to network programming (and its news shows) works just as good for any would-be autocrat trying to transform a somewhat democratically elected government into a dictatorship. You can watch their flavor of the news or not watch any news at all.

On a financial level, the Skydance/Paramount buyout of Warner Bros./Discovery doesn't make a damned bit of sense. It's a colossal waste of money with all sorts of downside financial risk. But seen in terms of the goal being media capture it makes sense. It's the same thing for the Nexstar-Tegna merger.

[Scott5114]

People not paying attention to network programming (and its news shows) works just as good for any would-be autocrat trying to transform a somewhat democratically elected government into a dictatorship. You can watch their flavor of the news or not watch any news at all.

Or you can look at British newspapers. Or you can watch foreign TV news networks like Al-Jazeera. Or you can read first-hand accounts of eyewitnesses on social media. Or you can read crowdfunded media like the Nevada Independent (in Oklahoma, you've got NonDoc and The Lost Ogle for that, which aren't quite as good as the Indy, but they're there). Or you can look at news-aggregator blogs that link to content from a variety of sources. The reason why people aren't paying attention to network programming is because there are so many other ways to get news these days besides Cronkite wannabees.

[mgk920]

Right now I'm much more worried about censorship by the current internet platforms.

Mike

[kphoger]

The reason why people aren't paying attention to network programming is because there are so many other ways to get news these days besides Cronkite wannabees.

Or because they get sick of listening to a right-wing commentary on the news, and then a left-wing commentary on the news, and then trying to figure out what the actual truth is behind them.  When I click on a news article, I simply assume its view is going to be slanted, which makes keeping up with the news less than appealing.

[Scott5114]

The reason why people aren't paying attention to network programming is because there are so many other ways to get news these days besides Cronkite wannabees.

Or because they get sick of listening to a right-wing commentary on the news, and then a left-wing commentary on the news, and then trying to figure out what the actual truth is behind them.  When I click on a news article, I simply assume its view is going to be slanted, which makes keeping up with the news less than appealing.

Any news article which is written by a human, or by a machine created by a human, is slanted in some form or fashion. Even one trying to be neutral—because what neutrality looks like is informed by our biases!

[kphoger]

Any news article which is written by a human, or by a machine created by a human, is slanted in some form or fashion. Even one trying to be neutral—because what neutrality looks like is informed by our biases!

Welp, then, I just give up!

[bing101]

https://thedesk.net/2026/04/judge-extends-modifies-restraining-order-nexstar-tegna/

Here is an update on the Nexstar court hearings.