FCC Media Bureau Approves Nexstar-TEGNA on Delegated Authority, Waiving the National Ownership Cap; Deal Closes the Same Day

On March 19, 2026 (adopted and released the same day), the FCC Media Bureau, by its Chief Erin Boone and without a vote of the Commission, granted consent to Nexstar’s acquisition of TEGNA. The order grants the applicants’ request for waiver of the National Television Ownership Rule, and grants waiver of the Local Television Ownership Rule in twenty-three DMAs, subject to divestitures Nexstar has committed to make. Nexstar completed the acquisition on March 19, 2026 (closing date, per its SEC filing).

Different measures. A footnote to the order puts Nexstar at less than 15% of the 1,777 full power television stations after divesting 6 stations. That is a station count. The rule being waived limits national audience reach, and the order itself recites the applicants’ own figure: 54.5% of the national audience, after the UHF discount.

The Commission’s press release describes the action as the Media Bureau’s approval of the sale of certain local broadcast TV stations from TEGNA to Nexstar. This was a Bureau-level waiver of a rule the full Commission later repealed outright, and the court order holding TEGNA separate came after the deal closed; both are recorded in 2026-08-06–fcc-repeals-39-percent-national-ownership-cap-report-and-order-fcc-26-53 and 2026-04-17–ed-cal-preliminary-injunction-orders-nexstar-hold-tegna-separate.