Controversial Nexstar Media-Tegna merger sparks unusual clash between FCC chair, Newsmax CEO

The controversial Nexstar Media-Tegna merger has sparked an unusual clash that could reach the halls of the White House — pitting a top media executive close to President Trump against the hard-charging FCC chairman Brendan Carr, The Post has learned.

The $6.2 billion mega-deal — which would create a local-TV giant with 265 stations across 44 states — got an uncomfortable spotlight last month after Carr threatened action against ABC over Jimmy Kimmel’s inflammatory comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

Nexstar, which already owns dozens of local ABC TV affiliates, temporarily pulled Kimmel off its airwaves — prompting accusations that it was sucking up to Carr to gain the FCC’s approval for the merger.

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The deal’s key hurdle is an FCC rule barring any single entity from owning local stations that reach more than 39% of US households.

Antitrust hawks fret that the merger would create a giant with upwards of 80% market share.

Carr has said he’s open to ending what he’s called “arcane artificial limits” on station ownership, arguing they hold back local news while enabling Big Tech streamers like YouTube to grow unchecked.

In May, more than 20 conservative groups and leaders, including Heritage Action for America and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist, told Carr that local TV broadcasters are at an “inherent disadvantage” compared to YouTube and Facebook due to the rule.

“Without reform, valued local broadcast radio and television services could disappear entirely,” the groups said.

But in an unusual twist, Chris Ruddy — the well-connected CEO of the right-leaning network Newsmax who is a close ally of President Trump — has led a charge on Capitol Hill to kill the Nexstar-Tegna deal, sources told The Post.

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Ruddy — whose calls for a regulatory clampdown aren’t typical in the GOP — “has a track record of being able to speak to Trump” and has made headway in convincing some Republicans to take his side, a source familiar with the situation said.

Ruddy claims repealing the 39% cap would allow “left-leaning broadcast networks” to gain too much power.

His bigger fear, according to some critics, is that Nexstar’s deal could pave the way for the right-leaning Sinclair to become a yet-bigger rival.

In an interview with The Post, Ruddy argued the FCC lacks legal standing to change the 39% rule, which was ratified by Congress.

The Newsmax boss, who has recently stepped up his lobbying efforts on the Hill, added that he felt Carr was “out on a limb” by exploring the repeal, which he claims “has very little support in Congress.”

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“The Democrats are all opposed to this merger and the 39% cap,” Ruddy said. “And every Republican I’ve spoken to, I’ve never heard somebody say that this is a good idea. So they’re on very thin ice. this is all an ‘inside the Beltway’ idea and concept to help the TV industry, which does little for Republicans.”

Despite Ruddy’s claim, some Republicans have indeed spoken out in favor of the rule change. 

In May, a group of 22 Republican senators, including Sens. Jerry Moran, Shelley Moore Capito and Marsha Blackburn, urged Carr in a letter to “modernize” broadcast ownership rules.” And in March, a bipartisan group of more than 50 House members sent a similar plea to the FCC.

Fox Television Stations, which operates 28 local stations nationwide, has supported lifting the 39% cap and shares a common owner with News Corp., the publisher of The Post. Newsmax and Ruddy are currently suing Fox News for allegedly maintaining an illegal monopoly and suppressing conservative rivals.

Ruddy’s detractors claim he is driven more by self-interest than any legitimate gripe about policy. They point to his past support of Gigi Sohn — a Democrat who supported the 39% cap — to serve as an FCC commissioner in 2021.

The Biden White House eventually withdrew Sohn’s nomination after her confirmation was repeatedly held up in Congress.

“Newsmax, a strong conservative right-wing network, supported what many on the right believed to be a far-left nominee because she would restrict broadcaster growth,” a former FCC official said. “Ruddy has gone to extreme lengths, I would say, to make his case. It’s always been a narrow competitive interest.”

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Ruddy told The Post he had supported Sohn solely for a Democratic seat on the five-person panel and because she was an advocate for independent networks like Newsmax.

“When you create these huge station groups, they have tremendous leverage to get fees that are not warranted for the cable channels, which hurts independent programmers like me – and potentially the strength to keep me off altogether,” Ruddy added. “I’m fighting for Newsmax’s life dealing with these big companies. They’re trying to squish us.”

The FCC declined to comment.

Carr has repeatedly said he wants any news outlets that air on public channels to abide by the FCC “public interest” rule, ensuring a fair mix of political views in their programming.

At the same time, he has pushed a review of the 39% cap and other regulations as part of his “Delete, Delete, Delete” deregulation drive.

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Sinclair, Nexstar and other local TV station owners similarly argue the 39% rule doesn’t make sense “in a marketplace dominated by the likes of Google/YouTube, Amazon, Meta, and Netflix,” who ran reach viewers globally with little friction of regulation.

Carr said last month he had not “made a final decision” on whether to remove the local ownership cap – but hinted that he was skeptical of Newsmax’s argument against the change.

“It’s interesting to me that neither [Newsmax] nor OAN have a 39% limit on the households that they can reach,” Carr told Policyband. “If they want to accept one, and then make the argument that everyone else should be subject to the same cap as them, then relatively speaking that argument might have some more weight.”

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Those in favor of repealing the 39% cap point out that mergers would still be subject to antitrust review. The Justice Department, for example, would likely order Nexstar to divest stations in markets where it would have a dominant hold before allowing the deal to go through.

In a July 23 filing personally signed by Ruddy, Newsmax described Nexstar as the parent company of “liberal-leaning” NewsNation that has stocked its lineup with anti-Trump hosts like Chris Cuomo.

“This is about, first and foremost having competition so that 3 or 4 companies don’t own all the TV licenses, all the major licenses across the country,” Ruddy said. “That’s the number one reason I’m doing it. Second, it does honestly impact my business and it hurts me.”