Nexstar and Sinclair CEOs Look to Industry Consolidation
The broadcast industry is ripe for consolidation and could eventually resolve into just two groups, each the size of the combined Nexstar/Tegna, suggested TV group CEOs from Nexstar and Sinclair on their respective Q3 earnings calls this week. “This level of consolidation would strengthen the industry's financial footing and position broadcasters as more capable competitors to big media and big tech” while preserving news coverage, said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley Wednesday. “I think a good, strong industry needs to have good, strong companies comprising it,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook Thursday. “We can't do it all by ourselves.”
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Nexstar reported $1.2 billion in net revenue for Q3, a 12.3% decrease from the prior year’s quarter. Sinclair reported $773 million, a 16% decrease from the same quarter in 2024.
Ripley said the regulatory shifts at the FCC have put the broadcast industry “at an inflection point,” and Sinclair is investigating deal opportunities. “The regulatory environment now enables transformational consolidation that can benefit broadcast, shareholders, creditors, employees and the communities we serve,” he said, adding that approval of the proposed Nexstar/Tegna would likely kick-start a wave of consolidation. “Getting a positive outcome there” will be “very helpful in moving the broader consolidation along."
The Nexstar/Tegna deal is “making good progress” toward closing, Sook said. DOJ’s recent request for additional information (see 2511040059) was “expected,” and the company’s FCC applications are “ready to go” once the federal shutdown ends. The applications for transfers of control of Tegna’s stations include requests for waivers of FCC rules “unless they are rendered moot by other rulemaking,” Sook added. “We continue to believe that the Trump administration and [FCC Chairman Brendan Carr] are focused on deregulating business, allowing businesses to breathe." An FCC rulemaking on the ownership cap is expected in the first half of 2026, concurrent with FCC approval of Nexstar/Tegna, Sook said. “We've been spending a lot of time in Washington to reinforce at the regulatory agencies and on the Hill that we are indeed here to help meet the regulatory moment where it is."
Ripley said Sinclair is among those caught up in the dispute between Disney and YouTube TV over carriage, arguing that the blackout illustrates the need for changes to the FCC rules governing virtual MVPDs. “Local broadcasters have no say in whether our content and the content we pay to air will be distributed to local viewers” over virtual MVPDs. “Disney, ABC and other networks should not be able to dictate to us whether we can or cannot distribute content to YouTube TV,” he said. “We call on Congress, the FCC and antitrust regulators to further review this and stop the harm to local broadcasters and local viewers.”
Nexstar said commercial, nonpolitical advertising for the company was “essentially flat” in Q3, and the recent addition of pharmaceutical ad rules hasn't had a negative impact on that category. Sook said the company will see “substantial political revenue” in 2026. Sinclair CFO Narinder Sahai likewise said his company “expect[s] 2026 to be a record political year.”
In addition, the NFL beginning negotiations for future broadcast rights to its games earlier than expected will “undoubtedly be a positive” for broadcasters, Ripley said. “What's being discussed are significant extensions of the rights into the back half of the 2030s, which would give the industry a lot of certainty.” Nexstar executives agreed: “An early discussion leaves the networks in probably a stronger position than they would be” at the end of the current deal, said COO Michael Biard.