The Nexstar Media Group, the patient collector of clusters of smaller local TV stations around the country, made a splashy acquisition Monday with a $4.1 billion cash deal for the Tribune Media Co. Including the assumption of Tribune Media’s debt, the deal is valued at $6.4 billion.
The deal would give Nexstar stations in eight of the nation’s 10 largest markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. And it would make the Irving, Texas-based Nexstar the company that owns or controls more U.S. local televisions stations than any other.
Tribune Media owns 42 stations, the WGN cable network and a 31 percent stark in the Food Network, among other properties. And the deal would enable Nexstar to catapult in number of stations above the rival Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose earlier $3.9 billion deal for Tribune Media fell apart amid allegations of ideological favoritism from the Trump administration and claims of bad faith between the two companies.
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