Midweek report: Nexstar's supposedly 'closed' $6.2 billion Tegna deal gets messy quick, Comcast and Scripps find hockey night alright for fighting, and Plex product chief Scott Olechowski explains the mysteries of FAST discovery to us

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Tune into our excluuusive interview with Scott Olechowski, co-founder and chief product officer for Plex.

Project Mayhem 2025:
Nexstar tells the judge it can’t put the genie back in the lamp

With the courts challenging so many of the Trump administration’s executive orders and regulatory decisions, is any deal ever really ‘closed’?

Better to ask forgiveness later than seek permission now. Or, maybe, it’s when you get the answer you want, just hang up?

Whatever axiom Nexstar Media Group abided by on March 20, the broadcaster sure did move fast after the FCC waived the 39% cap on audience reach for TV station owners, in the process blessing Nexstar’s $6.2 billion takeover of Tegna. That deal creates a combined entity controlling 259 stations reaching 80% of the U.S.

On November 7, 2024, two days after Donald Trump was voted back into the White House, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook lauded the opportunity to remove “antiquated ownership caps” and create greater shareholder value through “further consolidation.” With the Biden regulatory regime, led by anti-trust busting former FTC chief Lina Kahn, out of the way, getting business done just had be easier … right?

As it turned out, despite the combined presence of 234 Trump-appointed judges, there was a branch still concerned about rule of law and matters including consumer welfare. And now, belying the sweet, effortless regulatory glide folks like Sook might have expected, dealmaking is getting downright messy.