Nexstar Media Group is in the midst of attempting to acquire TEGNA in a multi-billion-dollar deal. The company’s CEO, Perry Sook, shared insight into the move while speaking at the NAB Show.
Currently, the transaction is being held up after a federal judge ruled in favor of the likes of DirecTV, Newsmax, and a coalition of state attorneys general who argued that the move was likely to harm the satellite company and consumers who lived in the challenging states.
While speaking at the NAB Show in Las Vegas with former Inside Edition host Deborah Norville, Sook used similar language to that of FCC chair Brendan Carr, calling the situation a “break-glass moment.”
He said that in the near future, “two or three companies” will survive to control the local television business.
“It’s only a matter of time … Make no mistake about it. There are many companies in both television and radio that are financially struggling right now,” Sook said.
Some have argued that Nexstar Media Group’s ownership of multiple stations in a single market is a net negative. Critics claim the deal is bad for the media and news businesses and hurts viewers. Sook disagreed.
“If we maintain the status quo, newsrooms will close. I don’t close newsrooms. I just move them into one building,” the Nexstar CEO said.
While the acquisition of TEGNA is paused, Perry Sook was adamant that his company will ultimately own the stations involved in the deal.
“We’re not in control of the timetable,” he said. “It will play out over a series of months here. We have confidence that we will prevail on the facts and on the law. We’ll be vigorous in our defense.”
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