Key Financial Data
- Q1 Total revenue: $1.396 billion (+13.1% year-over)
- Distribution revenue: $837 million (+9.8%)
- Advertising revenue: $548 million (+19.1%)
- Other revenue: $11 million (-8.3%)
- Net income: $160 million (+64.9%)
- Financials include TENGA-related earnings from 3/19 to 3/31
- Read more Q1 2026 media earnings coverage
Nexstar Media Group worked to impress Wall Street by pointing to the prowess of its $6.2 billion merger with TEGNA during the company’s first quarter (Q1) earnings report on Thursday, even as the nation’s largest broadcaster continues to square off against a bipartisan group of state attorneys general and pay TV platform DIRECTV to maintain the integrity of that deal.
On the financial side, Nexstar grew its overall revenue to $1.396 billion during Q1, an increase of 13 percent, while the company’s profit climbed nearly 65 percent to $160 million. Those financial figures include TEGNA’s businesses from the time the deal closed in mid-March through the end of that month, executives confirmed.
Distribution revenue — the fees charged to cable and satellite companies for carriage of Nexstar-owned or operated channels — rose 9.8 percent to $837 million, driven by $54 million in incremental revenue from TEGNA, higher rates, growth in streaming subscribers and the addition of CW affiliations at certain Nexstar stations. Those gains were partially offset by continued subscriber losses among traditional pay television providers, Nexstar ackonwledged.
Advertising revenue increased 19.1 percent to $548 million, helped by $51 million in incremental TEGNA revenue and a $35 million increase in political advertising at Nexstar’s legacy business units.
The company’s adjusted free cash flow rose 20.7 percent to $420 million, while net cash provided by operating activities fell 14.2 percent to $289 million. Nexstar said the decline was primarily tied to changes in operating assets and liabilities and lower cash distributions from its 31.3 percent stake in Television Food Network.
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook used the earnings release to frame the quarter around the company’s broader strategy, saying the acquisition of TEGNA was a “critical step” toward ensuring Nexstar can continue providing local journalism and other services in a market increasingly shaped by large technology platforms and legacy media conglomerates.
Sook said Nexstar’s “primary focus remains on operational excellence,” adding that the company delivered record net revenue and exceeded consensus expectations. He also pointed to NewsNation, which the company said ranked as the fastest-growing ad-supported cable network in primetime household viewership during the quarter, and the CW, which Nexstar said continues to move toward profitability as sports becomes a larger part of the network’s schedule.
The company also emphasized capital allocation, saying it returned $56 million to shareholders through dividends during the first quarter and repaid $182 million of debt through April 30. Nexstar said it used cash on hand and operating cash flow during the quarter to repay $28 million of debt, pay dividends and fund the TEGNA acquisition.
When it comes to the company’s merger with TEGNA, Sook said the deal gave Nexstar a stronger position on the playing field of media and entertainment, at a time when streaming platforms backed by deep-pocketed technology companies continue to siphon off premium TV rights and chip away at advertising dollars that once generated regular windfalls for traditional TV broadcasters.
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“Today, we still do not match their ubiquitous reach, and we operate with only a fraction of their resources, which directly impacts our ability to compete,” Sook admitted. “Our acquisition of TEGNA is a critical step in solidifying our future and ensuring we can continue providing these essential services to the public.”
While those statements may frame the TEGNA combination as a done deal, it is anything but: One day before the company received expedited sign-offs from federal regulators, several state attorneys general and DIRECTV filed separate but related lawsuits challenging the acquisition on antitrust grounds.
In April, a federal judge overseeing the case issued a preliminary injunction, requiring Nexstar to operate TEGNA separate from its core business, though the company is permitted to disclose the financials of both companies in line with federal reporting requirements. Nexstar is appealing the order.
Ordinarily, a transaction the size of Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA would be blocked under a federal rule that prevents one broadcaster from having direct ownership of TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of the American viewing audience. But the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr granted blanket waivers covering all TEGNA-owned stations — an unprecedented move involving more than a few local TV stations — which allowed Nexstar to move forward with the deal.
Still, the lawsuits continue, arguing that the deal gives Nexstar too much power over the editorial output of its local newsrooms and a significant amount of leverage to squeeze higher distribution fees from DIRECTV and other pay TV platforms in exchange for the privilege of carrying its “Big Four” network-affiliated local TV stations.
Companies like DIRECTV are prohibited under law from importing another local network affiliate into a market where subscribers are covered by a Nexstar-owned station, leaving those companies with only two choices: Pay the higher fees, or pull the channels.
Nexstar says DIRECTV and other pay TV subscribers still have access to its programming, because their broadcast signals are available for free. The company also argues that more network programming, including live sports, is available on network-owned streaming platforms like Comcast’s Peacock (NBC), Paramount Plus with Showtime (CBS) and Fox One.
