Cleveland, Ohio The $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna by Nexstar Media Group has the potential to change local television in Cleveland, where Tegna owns NBC affiliate WKYC Channel 3 and Nexstar owns FOX affiliate WJW Channel 8. Even while the acquisition would put both stations under one owner, it might have a significant impact on how each runs, particularly in their newsrooms.
Al Tompkins, a veteran broadcaster and senior faculty emeritus at the Poynter Institute, stated, “We don’t know what will happen.”
Any merger in Cleveland would have to deal with the FCC’s current regulation that states a single corporation cannot own more than one of the top four stations in a market. Although it’s too soon to predict what that may entail, the lifting of that rule might pave the way for some consolidation.
According to Tompkins, the FCC may do away with the ownership cap restriction while doing away with the prohibition against owning two of the top four stations in a given market. The Tegna station might need to be spun out by Nexstar at first.
By merging Nexstar’s more than 200 stations with Tegna’s 64, a broadcasting behemoth that reaches 80% of American television households would more than double the FCC’s existing ownership cap of 39%. According to Tompkins, the agreement depends on modifications to regulations.
He stated that the FCC would need to remove these limitations in order for this to occur. Trump appointment and chairman Brendan Carr has given every sign that he will support a modification to the ownership rules. Additionally, if you believe that these restrictions are superfluous, it is consistent with the Trump administration’s directive to eliminate them.
Ownership regulations were put in place in the 1970s with the intention of limiting concentration and guaranteeing local voices. According to Tompkins, broadcasting is not like grocery stores or auto dealerships. The public owns the airwaves, and businesses are granted licenses to use them for community service. More local ownership and avoiding a monopoly on one voice were the goals. Broadcasters now claim that the outdated regulations prevent them from competing with online tech firms.
Additionally, Tompkins cited the lessons learned during the 1980s radio deregulation, when a small number of businesses acquired almost all radio stations. According to him, many are now mostly automated, share sales and news staff, and work out of the same building. Proponents of the free press fear that television may experience the same fate.
According to Tompkins, they predict that there will be much fewer journalists covering local news.
However, Nexstar is not the only business interested in Tegna. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which does not own a station in Cleveland, is also interested in purchasing Tegna. As of right now, the Nexstar-Tegna merger is anticipated to close in the second half of 2026, pending shareholder approval and FCC modifications.
In Cleveland, WJW and WKYC have a lengthy history. Established by the Empire Coil Company and once a part of the DuMont Television Network, WJW debuted on television in 1949 under the name WXEL. In 1954, Storer Communications acquired the station and became a CBS affiliate. The Gillett Group bought it in 1987. In 1994, it was sold to New World Communications, which changed the station to Fox. Fox, Local TV LLC, Tribune Broadcasting, and Nexstar were among the station’s latter owners before Nexstar purchased it in 2019. Lou Maglio, Wayne Dawson, Stefani Schaefer, and Tracy McCool are among its news personalities.
In contrast, Cleveland has had WKYC as its NBC affiliate since 1948, when the network first introduced it as WNBK. Over the years, the station has also had several ownership changes, including stints under Gannett, Multimedia, Inc., Westinghouse, and most recently, Tegna. Danita Harris, Betsy Kling, Christi Paul, and Russ Mitchell are on its news staff.
