On Tuesday, Nexstar Media Group confirmed its intention to acquire peer broadcaster TEGNA in a deal valued at $6.2 billion. What follows are the e-mail messages shared to employees of their respective companies immediately following the announcement:
Message from Nexstar Media Group CEO Perry Sook:
Today marks another historic milestone in the story of Nexstar, our continued growth, and our role in driving the evolution of the television broadcast industry.
As you likely know by now, this morning we announced that Nexstar has reached an agreement to acquire TEGNA Inc. The transaction will strengthen the combined company’s position as the nation’s leading local media company and enable us to better serve communities of all sizes by ensuring the long-term vitality of local news and programming from trusted local sources, preserving the diversity of local voice and opinion, and providing businesses of all types with a variety of local broadcast and digital options to reach consumers more effectively. In short, preserve local news, local voice and local choice.
As we described in this morning’s press release, our acquisition of TEGNA is a strategically, financially, and operationally compelling opportunity that stands to benefit the company, our customers, and the communities we serve. The combination of our two companies will provide us with greater scale in both our broadcasting and digital operations, and enable us to better compete with Big Media and Big Tech.
Upon closing, the new company will own or operate 265 local television stations across 44 states, reaching 80 percent of the country with more journalists than any other company, located in newsrooms from San Diego, California, to Portland, Maine, and Seattle, Washington, to Tampa, Florida. Collectively, our local TV stations will generate more than 450,000 hours annually of locally produced news and programming.
In the digital space, TEGNA operates more than 50 best-in-class local CTV apps and recently added 100 hours of streaming content across its markets. TEGNA also is the owner of Premion, an OTT platform which enables local advertisers to access high-quality, long form streaming TV inventory to extend their audience reach and target specific audiences.
The core of this transaction, however, is our enduring commitment to localism. This transaction is vital to preserving local journalism that is unbiased and accurate, presented by reliable local sources, with an imperative to deliver an array of perspectives that reflect the range of communities we serve. Big Tech isn’t interested in any of those things as it voraciously pursues ever more views, clicks, and scrolls while continuing to leverage its massive scale.
Simply put, Big Tech is more interested in engagement than accuracy, which rapidly fuels the dissemination of “fake news.” Meanwhile, Nexstar’s commitment to high-quality, trustworthy journalism consistently delivers strong viewership, earning trust along with local and national accolades, such as the many national Murrow Awards earned by both companies last week. Combining Nexstar and TEGNA will begin to provide us with the scale and resources necessary to challenge the dominance of Big Tech and the legacy mainstream media.
The work you all do every day has enabled us to strike this deal, and this transaction will pave the way for Nexstar’s next chapter of growth. Looking ahead, we expect the transaction to close in the second half of next year, pending approvals from regulatory bodies and TEGNA shareholders. In the meantime, we have plenty of work to do to prepare for the eventual integration of TEGNA. For most of us, however, it will remain business as usual, and it’s critical that we remain laser-focused on our work, avoiding distractions and speculation, and committed to serving our viewers, advertisers, and communities. As the process unfolds, we will keep you informed of our progress and provide appropriate forums to provide updates and take your questions.
Thank you for your support, and for all you do for Nexstar.
Cheers,
Perry and Mike
Message from TEGNA CEO Mike Steib:
Team –
Moments ago, we officially shared some exciting news: we have entered into an agreement to create a new combined company with Nexstar – a move I believe will accelerate our mission to build a sustainable future for local news for generations to come.
As we’ve discussed this past year, our fight to secure the future of local news – and win against Big Tech – is built on three core pillars:
- Winning local with leading local journalism and sales execution.
- Supercharging our newsrooms with the tools to better serve our communities.
- Reaching and monetizing audiences everywhere with indispensable digital products across every screen.
I’m proud of your relentless execution of our strategy, and our record-breaking growth in streaming audiences and revenue is proof that it is working. I’ve always said we’d consider M&A if it could expedite our ability to deploy our digital transformation at scale. That’s exactly why we engaged with Nexstar – this is the right opportunity at the right time.
Many of you know Perry Sook, Nexstar’s CEO & Chairman. Perry is a true industry legend — a visionary who built Nexstar station-by-station into the powerhouse it is today. His leadership has reshaped our industry and ensured its financial viability, from pioneering retrans fees to expanding local news nationwide. Perry is a firm believer that best-in-class local journalism is the key to winning audiences and fueling growth – a belief we share completely.
One of our priorities in exploring any transformative deal was ensuring we weren’t taking on heavy debt. By bringing together TEGNA and Nexstar, we’re uniting two of the strongest balance sheets in the business. In today’s competitive environment, this positions us to forge ahead on journalistic excellence and invest in innovation, all to keep local news strong and widely accessible with great financial strength and resilience.
So, what happens next? Today’s announcement is just the first step in the regulatory approval process. So, for now, nothing changes – we keep doing what we do best: executing our strategy and OKRs, winning audiences, and growing revenue across all platforms. We serve 51 communities that count on us daily for vital news and information, and that work remains our focus. Until the deal closes, we remain two separate companies and must operate as such.
We’ve scheduled an All-Hands meeting for 12 p.m. ET today where I will share more about why we made the decision and cover the questions that are on your mind.
Thank you all again for your ongoing hard work and commitment to our mission. You’ve already accomplished more in the past year than many companies see in a decade, and I’m proud of the way you’ve risen to meet every opportunity. This is a big moment for TEGNA and for local news – I’m excited for what comes next.
—
Read more:
- Nexstar confirms plan to acquire TEGNA for $6.2 billion
- Nexstar sees revenue dip 3 percent in Q2, soft ad market blamed
- TEGNA revenue slips to $675 million during Q2
- TEGNA lays off national fact-checking team Verify
- NAB renews call for FCC to eliminate broadcast ownership cap
- FCC seeks public comment on TV, radio ownership reform
- Exclusive: Nexstar asks local TV station executives to support media deregulation
- Exclusive: Nexstar orders stations to run news stories about FCC deregulation efforts
- TEGNA pulls stations off DirecTV; satellite company offers a-la-carte terms
- Nexstar ordered to pay DirecTV $26.6 million over contract dispute
