President Trump has publicly endorsed Nexstar Media Group’s proposed acquisition of Tegna, blessing a deal that will reshape the U.S. broadcast tv panorama and check long-standing federal possession limits.
In a publish on his Fact Social platform Saturday, Trump urged regulators to approve the transaction, framing it as a technique to counter what he referred to as “Pretend Information Nationwide TV Networks.” Trump stated the merger would enhance competitors and function “at the next and extra refined degree,” including in all caps: “GET THAT DEAL DONE!”
The roughly $6.2 billion deal would give Nexstar management of about 265 native tv stations throughout 44 states and the District of Columbia, reaching roughly 80% of U.S. tv households. That may far exceed the present Federal Communications Fee possession cap, which limits a single broadcaster to stations overlaying not more than 39% of the nationwide viewers.
The Federal Communications Fee is reviewing the proposed merger because it concurrently considers whether or not to revisit or elevate the nationwide possession cap.
Trump-appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr echoed the previous president’s help in a publish on X, arguing that nationwide networks owned by firms similar to Comcast and Disney have collected extreme energy and that bigger station teams may present significant competitors.
“President Trump is precisely proper,” Carr wrote Saturday. “The nationwide networks like Comcast & Disney have amassed an excessive amount of energy. For years, they’ve been pushing this Hollywood & New York programming everywhere in the nation with no actual checks. Let’s get it completed and convey actual competitors to them.”
Trump’s endorsement marks a shift from feedback he made final 12 months expressing reservations about loosening possession limits. Broadcasters together with Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group, together with the Nationwide Affiliation of Broadcasters, have lengthy pressed regulators to modernize or take away the cap, arguing it not displays present market realities.
The merger has additionally drawn organized opposition. Advocacy teams have run promoting campaigns in Washington each for and in opposition to the deal, with some messaging clearly geared toward Trump. One group, Maintain Information Native, has promoted the merger as a technique to “defeat faux information for good.”
Conservative cable outlet Newsmax, led by Trump ally Chris Ruddy, has urged the FCC to reject the transaction. In a submitting with regulators, Ruddy argued that the deal would focus an excessive amount of energy in a single firm, undermining localism and permitting Nexstar to lift retransmission charges. Nexstar has countered that the FCC lacks authority to waive the cap, contending that solely Congress can change the restrict.
The merger overview unfolds amid broader scrutiny of broadcast energy and editorial affect. Nexstar and Sinclair final 12 months briefly pulled ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Dwell!” following controversial remarks by the late-night host, a transfer later defended by Nexstar executives Perry Sook and Michael Biard as an train of editorial judgment.
