The Tegna paperwork is up & Tegna shareholders have approved of the deal by Nexstar Media Group to buy Tegna & it's 36 stations, this is a major test of the F.C.C. & F.T.C.
Here in Denver this could me a major shake up to local news, with Nexstar owning & controlling 5 Denver tv stations In Denver they would own the following if approved by the F.C.C:
- KDVR
- KFCT *
- KWGN
- KUSA
- KTVD
KUSA carries NBC Programing, KTVD carries My Network TV Programing, KDVR & KFCT carry FOX programing & KWGN carries The CW programing. KUSA & KDVR/KFCT are the Top 2 stations in the Denver Market by viewership.
Nexstar notes in it's filings that KWGN & KTVD do not carry much viewership in the Denver market even with long standing newscasts in place on both stations, they also note the same with several other stations including WKYC & KDFW, Tegna has not commented on these findings.
If this is approved Denver viewers could see 1 or 2 newscasts across 5 stations with the same reports.
The Tegna merger could also mean a loss of newsrooms and newscasts in other cities across the country: Cleveland (Tegna owns WKCY-3 NBC, Nexstar owns: WJW-8 Fox & WBNX-55 The CW) and Portland, OR (Tegna owns KGW-8 NBC & Nexstar owns:KOIN6 CBS & KRCW-32 The CW) Grand Rapids, MI (Tegna owns: WZZM-13 ABC & Nexstar owns: WOOD-8 NBC & WOTV-4 ABC).
The other possibility is this gets pushed off to an administrative law judge for further review, in which case Nexstar would owe Tegna Millions of dollars.
You can read this for yourself if you so choose, but be warned, prepare for a boring read: https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f919a75226c019a9a0057dc0ff5
(*Note: KFCT is included in this count because it is a full power station serving Ft. Collins,CO on channel 32. It was signed on by Chase Broadcasting in spring 1995 before the sale of KDVR to FOX Television Stations, LLC who owned the stations until 2007.)
