Dozens of Groups Send FCC a Letter of Support for Petition to Deny Illegal Nexstar-Tegna Merger
This massive broadcast-industry merger would be a blatant violation of the law prohibiting one company from too much control over local airwaves
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, 28 public-interest groups, labor unions and civil-rights organizations sent the Federal Communications Commission a letter of support for a public-interest petition to deny the proposed merger of Nexstar and Tegna.
The petition — filed at the end of 2025 by Free Press, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians—Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA), The NewsGuild—Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Public Knowledge — calls on the agency to reject a merger that would create an illegal broadcast conglomerate. The deal would exceed the 39-percent audience-reach “National Cap” Congress set.
“The proposed transaction would cause incredibly high levels of concentration in local TV markets, would raise cable and satellite prices around the country, would cause irreparable harm to local news and consumers and would be contrary to the public interest,” wrote the signers of Monday’s letter in support of the petition to deny. They added that the FCC lacks the authority to approve this merger.
The full letter of support is available here.
Signers of the letter include AFT, the American Economic Liberties Project, Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), the Center for Journalism & Liberty at Open Markets Institute, the Committee for the First Amendment, Common Cause, Fourth Branch Action, Get Free, the Hispanic Federation, HTTP, Indivisible, the Japanese American Citizens League, Local Independent Online News Publishers, MANA—A National Latina Organization, the Media and Democracy Project, the Multicultural Media Telecom & Internet Council, NAACP, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Urban League, the OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, Public Citizen, SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West.
Background:
In November 2025, Nexstar filed an application with the FCC seeking agency approval to acquire Tegna’s broadcast licenses. If approved, the multibillion-dollar deal would combine the nation’s largest television-station conglomerate with its fourth largest. Nexstar controls more than 200 television stations in 116 local U.S. markets. If the FCC approves the merger, the combined entity would own and/or operate 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, and would be present in 132 of the country’s 210 television Designated Market Areas (or DMAs).
If approved without any divestitures, the unlawful merger would increase Nexstar’s actual national reach to more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. This reach is more than twice as large as the 39 percent limit set by Congress. Even using the FCC’s anachronistic “UHF discount” methodology, Nexstar would blow through the 39 percent cap — where its reach currently sits — to a discounted 55 percent of TV households.
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