Trump Throws Support Behind Media Shake-Up, Calls Out “Fake News”

President Donald Trump on Saturday threw his weight behind a big television deal and used his platform to blast what he calls the enemy of the people. “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” he wrote on Truth Social. “GET THAT DEAL DONE!”

The deal in question would combine Nexstar Media Group with Tegna. Nexstar owns or partners with about 200 stations. Tegna runs 64 stations. The firms say the merged company would reach roughly 80 percent of U.S. TV households.

That reach is the heart of the fight. Current Federal Communications Commission rules bar any broadcaster from owning stations that together reach more than 39 percent of U.S. TV households. To make the Nexstar Tegna tie up work, the rule would likely need to change or be reinterpreted.

Trump once opposed loosening that limit. In November he warned that lifting the cap could let large networks grow even larger and said he “would not be happy.” Now he has softened his view and says this deal will help conservative outlets compete with national networks.

Company filings show the headline price varies by how it is counted. The firms announced an all cash offer that values Tegna at about $22 a share. With debt and fees included the total has been reported as $6.2 billion even though the headline acquisition figure is often quoted as about $3.5 billion.

Support from a former president matters in Washington. Bloomberg and other outlets said Trump’s sudden endorsement could make some Republican senators more comfortable with a change to ownership rules. That in turn can ease the path at the Federal Communications Commission.

Not everyone buys that view. Progressive lawmakers and civil society groups have warned that the merger would concentrate local news power in too few hands and could shrink the range of voices on TV. They say a single company controlling so much local reach would be bad for competition and for local journalism.

The fight will play out fast. The Senate Commerce Committee has set a hearing on February 10 to examine broadcast ownership rules. The hearing is billed as a chance to ask whether old rules still make sense when so many people watch video on streaming platforms and social services.

Backers argue the merger will help local stations survive. They say combining resources will let them bargain better with advertisers and distributors and save money that can be used for reporting. Critics say savings may not find their way into newsrooms and that the public will lose local choices.

For now the vote is not done. Regulators have not decided to remove or alter the cap. The companies say they expect the deal to close later in the year if they get the green light. In the short run both sides will try to shape public opinion and the record that lawmakers will see at the hearing.

Featured image via The Daily Glitch library