Brenda Victoria Castillo
Posted November 27, 2025
Last week, Nexstar filed its applications at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging approval of its proposed takeover of TEGNA – the largest broadcast consolidation in modern American history. As required by law, Nexstar’s filing (which is not currently available on the FCC’s website) includes a Public Interest statement making the case for why the merger will supposedly benefit the greater good.
The Public Interest statement is remarkable not for what it says, but for what it doesn’t say. Nexstar’s filing is silent on what the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) considers the most urgent and well-documented public interest harms this mega-merger would cause: higher retransmission fees that will raise monthly TV bills, gutting of local newsrooms, and widespread layoffs across the country. Nexstar doesn’t hide these results; they openly tout the core “revenue synergies” and “cost synergies” to Wall Street investors as the reason the deal is so attractive.
As NHMC has warned for more than a decade, the consolidation of local media into the hands of a few giant corporations threatens the different viewpoints that are essential to a healthy democracy.
It’s clear that Nexstar is telling different versions of its narrative depending on its audience. To investors, Nexstar’s message is that this deal is lucrative and prioritizes efficiency, yet their public interest filing to the FCC fails to mention that those profits and efficiencies come at the cost of consumers and devastating layoffs. This strategic inconsistency raises serious concerns about their transparency, true intentions, and credibility.
Just weeks ago, Nexstar CFO Lee Gliha bragged to analysts that 45 percent of the merger’s $300 million in “synergies” will come from higher retransmission revenues – a polite way of saying consumers will be forced to pay more for the same free over-the-air channels. She went further, predicting that “there will be more over time.” In plain terms, Nexstar openly admits it plans to squeeze Americans for at least $135 million more per year in retransmission fees, at a time when the average family is struggling to make ends meet.
Yet in its Public Interest filing to the FCC, Nexstar does not even mention these looming price hikes. The media giant leaves out any mention of higher bills or an economic analysis of what their merger would mean for communities like ours. At a moment when affordability is the defining political issue in America, dominating voters’ decisions in the recent elections and overturning the outlook for next year’s midterms, Nexstar’s choice to hide this reality from regulators is not just irresponsible – it’s completely out of touch with reality.
Nexstar’s track record following acquisitions is well-known for layoffs, duplication of news content across stations, and the gutting of truly local newsrooms. Less local journalism means less diversity of viewpoints and more “must-run” segments that don’t serve our communities. But when speaking to the FCC, where the legal standard asks whether the merger will preserve localism, promote competition, and ensure viewpoint diversity, Nexstar pretends its consolidation spree has no consequences at all.
This is not how the public interest standard is supposed to work. As an independent agency, the FCC should not allow companies to speak out of both sides of their mouth – trumpeting profit increases to Wall Street while posing as champions of local journalism before the Commission to garner support.
As NHMC has warned for more than a decade, the consolidation of local media into the hands of a few giant corporations threatens the different viewpoints that are essential to a healthy democracy. It’s part of why we’re leading the Defend The Press campaign with two dozen other advocacy organizations. When one company controls news broadcasts reaching more than 80 percent of the national audience – as Nexstar would if this merger with TEGNA is allowed to move forward – Americans lose access to local stories, local perspectives, and local accountability.
Nexstar’s filing fails the most basic requirement of the Public Interest standard: honesty and transparency. The FCC should reject it – and reject the merger for the good of ALL consumers
Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC).
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