Tegna shareholders OK Nexstar acquisition

Tegna shareholders have approved a measure that will allow the company to be acquired by Nexstar Media Group.

According to the preliminary results announced at the special meeting held Nov. 18, 2025, approximately 98% of the total shares of Tegna’s common stock voted at the special meeting were voted to adopt the agreement. The results are still pending final verification.

The transaction, first announced in August 2025, is expected to close by the second half of 2026.

As of November 2025, Nexstar could not acquire Tegna without selling or trading at least some of the assets of the proposed combined company due to FCC regulations on ownership caps.

Those caps, however, are widely expected to be adjusted upward in the near future, following a pledge by the Trump administration to move forward with a variety of efforts to deregulate various industries.

Because it’s not clear how the rules will be updated, it is also not clear if Nexstar might still need to sell or trade at least some assets to give the final OK to acquire the licenses from Tegna. It’s also possible Nexstar could pursue joint sales agreements, shared service agreements or local marketing agreement arrangements as it currently does with affiliated partner companies.

Tegna and Nexstar likely expect to realize significant cost savings and synergies by combining various areas of operations, though no specific fans have been outlined.

These types of arrangements, which can include sharing administrative, sales, marketing, graphics and other teams to avoid duplication, have become common among owners of TV stations and proponents of lowering ownership caps argue such efficiencies are necessary in the changing media landscape where streaming and economic factors have put increased pressure on linear broadcasting. 

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Opponents, however, argue that expanding how many stations a company can own will reduce the diversity and number of voices in local broadcasting, particularly news coverage. They also argue these moves could result in more job cuts in an industry that has already seen significant reductions thanks, at least in part, to previous consolidation and cost-cutting moves.