President Trump has made a surprise move, throwing his support behind Nexstar Media Group's $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna, a company he once publicly opposed.
On Saturday, the president tweeted that "good deals" like this acquisition will help increase competition against "the Fake News National TV Networks," implying that it will help counter the influence of media outlets perceived as biased. Trump also urged his supporters to "GET THAT DEAL DONE!" suggesting that the purchase is in line with his administration's goals for deregulation.
The deal, which was announced in August and requires regulatory approval, would bring together two companies with significant holdings in local broadcast media. Nexstar owns over 200 stations across 116 markets nationwide, while Tegna owns 64 news stations across 51 markets.
Trump had previously expressed opposition to the deal, stating that it could allow "Radical Left Networks" to expand their reach. However, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has come out in support of the president's stance, arguing that the national networks, such as Comcast and Disney, have too much power and are pushing a Hollywood and New York-centric programming on the country.
Nexstar has argued that the deal aligns with the Trump administration's deregulatory initiatives, which aim to give local broadcasters more opportunities to expand their reach and compete more effectively with larger media companies.
On Saturday, the president tweeted that "good deals" like this acquisition will help increase competition against "the Fake News National TV Networks," implying that it will help counter the influence of media outlets perceived as biased. Trump also urged his supporters to "GET THAT DEAL DONE!" suggesting that the purchase is in line with his administration's goals for deregulation.
The deal, which was announced in August and requires regulatory approval, would bring together two companies with significant holdings in local broadcast media. Nexstar owns over 200 stations across 116 markets nationwide, while Tegna owns 64 news stations across 51 markets.
Trump had previously expressed opposition to the deal, stating that it could allow "Radical Left Networks" to expand their reach. However, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has come out in support of the president's stance, arguing that the national networks, such as Comcast and Disney, have too much power and are pushing a Hollywood and New York-centric programming on the country.
Nexstar has argued that the deal aligns with the Trump administration's deregulatory initiatives, which aim to give local broadcasters more opportunities to expand their reach and compete more effectively with larger media companies.
. As someone who's been following this whole thing, I thought for sure Trump would end up blocking it due to his history of criticizing Nexstar. But I guess you could say he's finally seeing the light? 
It's weird that he's now supporting deregulation, considering how much his admin has been doing to roll back net neutrality and stuff. And I'm still a bit skeptical about whether this deal will actually lead to more competition between local stations and those giant national networks... 
Still, it's not like we didn't expect some kind of crazy flip-flop from Trump at this point 
i think its kinda weird how he changed his mind from opposing the deal to now backing it 
cuz remember when he said radical left networks would get a boost lol what changed his mind? did he see some benefits that we didnt know about? 
and what about local content, are we gonna lose that in the process of "increasing competition"? 
i don't know about you guys, but it seems to me like this is just another way for the 1% to get even more power.
any way i feel like this is gonna be a huge shakeup in the broadcasting world and it'll be interesting to see how local stations adapt to having more competition from big media companies 
i guess it makes sense that he wants to deregulate local broadcast media so smaller stations can compete but like isnt that what hes been saying all along about the big networks being too powerful 
, this is just another example of a big player getting what it wants without anyone really questioning it 
. what changed? 
. On one hand, it's good that there's a push for competition against the big players in national TV networks 
. But I worry that Nexstar and Tegna might end up being too dominant in the market, which could lead to more consolidation and less local content 
. Still, I guess it's better that the government is talking about media regulation again 
. Maybe it'll lead to some real changes that benefit local broadcasters 
. But I'm keeping an open mind 
.
. And what's with the "Radical Left Networks" nonsense? Who decides that anyway? The FCC? Please... Brendan Carr is just trying to get on the president's good side, like everyone else in Washington 
.
. Throwing support behind Nexstar's buyout is either a master move or desperate PR 
online and it reminded me of my cat, Mr. Whiskers, who's super clumsy at chasing laser pointers 
?