TV Station Owners at NAB NY Show: Consolidation a Must for Survival

E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said local journalism is under intense revenue pressure, and more consolidation and national scale "will be necessary" to make the economics work. Fragmentation of the news audience and advertisers means it's questionable whether a market can support five TV stations "doing exactly the same thing," he added.

Rob Weisbord, Sinclair's president of local media, said consolidation could mean various formats among different stations in a market, as well as more experimentation with news content.

The risk of station consolidation, however, is fewer voices in the community, acknowledged Graham CEO Catherine Badalamente. In addition, there are dangers that smaller broadcasters will get swept up into a broadcast marketplace of a few major chains, she said. But consolidation is a business imperative, she argued, as well as the route to getting more reporters in the field and new technology investments.

Badalamente also said that beyond an ATSC 3.0 sunset date, the industry needs better tuner mandates so original equipment manufacturers can start producing more compatible TVs. Symson added that he has seen stronger ATSC 3.0 marketplace demand and regulatory support than ever.

Mark Aitken, president of Sinclair subsidiary One Media Technologies, urged broadcasters to have courage in working collectively to implement ATSC 3.0. Citing numerous potential applications, he said the standard makes local broadcasters “an extension of the internet.”

Asked about Sinclair's stance in talks with Disney and ABC about talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, Weisbord said the network/affiliate relationship “should be a two-way street." Sinclair and Nexstar temporarily preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September (see 2509230019 and 2509290062) following threats by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Weisbord added that Sinclair's discussions with Disney and ABC were never about First Amendment issues but about his company's long history of serving communities with trusted content. Licenses are kept by keeping bias out of content and telling the truth, he said. Sinclair never demanded ABC suspend Kimmel, he added, but the host's comments on Charlie Kirk’s killing were beyond the pale.

Symson and Badalamente said their companies' business goals don't conflict with protecting free speech or accommodating the FCC. Symson said nothing has changed in Scripps' role as an independent arbiter of fact and truth, and it has a duty to shareholders and its stations' communities to follow what regulators want. Scripps is focused on ensuring its journalists and its local programming make full use of First Amendment rights, he said.

Badalamente agreed: "What he said." While she has concerns about the FCC spending undue time on content issues, as long as Graham creates truthful content and doesn't have people "overreaching ... we'll be OK."

Addressing competition with streaming services, Weisbord said broadcasters face an uneven playing field because of "1950s language rules" about issues such as profanity, which drive talent and younger viewers away from broadcasters.

Meanwhile, reverse compensation fee trends are improving, with networks being willing partners in that change, Symson said. The networks see that the local broadcast business has changed, he said, adding that the networks would be out of business without affiliates. Asked about whether local stations hope to see changes in their affiliation agreements, such as regaining control of the 10 p.m. prime-time hour, Symson said broadcasters would consider any option.

M&A

Todd Hartman, executive vice president at media brokerage Kalil & Co., predicted robust merger and acquisition activity among broadcast groups into 2026. John Sanders of communications appraisal consultancy Bond & Pecaro was more conservative about the M&A level for the rest of 2025, pointing to some macroeconomic uncertainties that could have a chilling effect.

The economics are getting tougher for smaller station groups, as they lack retransmission consent leverage, driving M&A, Sanders said. Those smaller groups also will face tougher local ad markets as liberalization of FCC rules on broadcast ownership could mean increased head-to-head competition from other stations in the market, he added. Hartman said broadcast ownership deregulation makes sense only because “the horse has been out of the barn for years,” with operators running multiple Big Four stations in some markets via shared-service and joint-sales agreements.

Sanders and Hartman dismissed the idea that station groups would be more cautious about running network programming that casts the White House in a negative light. It’s not uncommon for businesses to move toward the initiatives and priorities of administrations, Hartman said, but avoiding any critical coverage of Trump administration policies isn’t possible for news-producing organizations. Late-night TV hosts remain irreverent, Sanders added.

Ads and Sports

Of the $3.9 billion expected in local political ad spending in 2026, over-the-air broadcast will likely claim 44.8%, which is “pretty good news” for local TV, said BIA Advisory Services’ Rick Ducey. However, redistricting could be bad for local broadcasters if it results in fewer competitive races, he added.

In addition, streaming services are increasingly standing up local ad forces, providing increased competition to local broadcasters, Ducey said.

Brad Ramsey, head of sports rights at Tegna, said the company's ownership of local NBA and NHL rights in numerous markets has met or exceeded audience size expectations almost everywhere. That in turn has opened doors to new advertisers and sponsors, he said.

Sports rights are increasingly divvied up among broadcasters and direct-to-consumer platforms, rather than one party having exclusive rights, said Rincon Broadcasting President Todd Parkin. That can make it harder for fans to find sports content, he added, and thus there's an increased focus on improving the viewer experience in ways beyond just offering a big block of content.

Scripps has direct-to-consumer apps for multiple NHL teams in its markets and was the first in the NHL to integrate sports gambling with the app, said Tony Lamerato, the company's vice president of local media sales. All that opens the door to different monetization opportunities, such as selling merchandise or helping hotels sell rooms tied to attending a game, he said.

Eric Ratchman, chief revenue officer at FanDuel Sports Network, said its app allows for commerce, and it’s moving toward ticketing and merchandise partnerships with teams. Teams want audiences in stadiums, and FanDuel wants app subscribers, he added, so the regional sports network is also putting together sales packages with tickets and app subscriptions.