Station Consolidation Means Less Local News
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently considering raising station cap limits, while station groups are pursuing more mega-mergers. One such proposed merger is Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna. A report commissioned by DirecTV highlights the impact of these mergers on local newsrooms and diversity of voices in markets with a Big Four duopoly, triopoly, or quadropoly.
According to DirecTV attorneys Michael Nilsson and Annick M. Banoun, when broadcasters acquire multiple stations in a local market, they often consolidate news operations. This results in fewer newsrooms and a decrease in the quality of local news. The evidence presented in the report, particularly in the context of the Nexstar-Tegna transaction, demonstrates that this consolidation trend is prevalent.
DirecTV’s study focused on Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMAs) with Big Four affiliates under the same management team. It identified 98 duopolies, 15 triopolies, and three quadropolies where co-managed stations consolidated their online news to a single site, shared news directors, journalists, and anchors across stations, instead of operating as distinct news entities.
The study revealed that in the majority of markets with duopolies, triopolies, or quadropolies, co-owned stations offered essentially the same local news content. This consolidation trend was observed across station groups such as Nexstar, Sinclair, Scripps, Hearst, Lilly, Gray, and Tegna.
The data showed that 90.5% of news sites, 98.2% of news directors, and 97.3% of news talent were shared among broadcast duopolies and beyond. This consolidation of resources leads to reduced competition, output, and quality in local news.
In light of these findings, Nilsson and Banoun urged the FCC to reject proposals that would create more duopolies, triopolies, and quadropolies, as they would further diminish local news content and diversity of voices in the media landscape.
The report commissioned by DirecTV sheds light on the impact of broadcaster consolidation on local news and underscores the importance of preserving competition and quality in the industry. It serves as a call to action for regulators to carefully consider the implications of further mergers and consolidations in the broadcasting sector.
