WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the FCC expected to grant its game-changing merger with Nexstar Media Group by granting waivers that would allow it to own more than two full-power stations in a market — just as it did with Circle City’s purchase of WRTV-TV in Indianapolis from The E.W. Scripps Co. — the only TV station ownership group headquartered in the National Capital Region has stated its rule-busting deal is on track for completion “by the second half of 2026.”
Tysons, Va.-headquartered TEGNA made the declaration as part of its distribution of its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results, which saw the company led by CEO Mike Steib achieve or exceed all previously announced full-year guidance.
Given the pending merger of TEGNA and Nexstar, there have been no earnings-focused conference calls for TEGNA shareholders and Wall Street financial analysts since the proposed deal was announced in mid-August 2025. TEGNA stockholders voted to approve the transaction at the special meeting of stockholders held on November 18, 2025.
Now, it is simply up to the Justice Department and FCC Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone to each declare their expected approvals of a transaction that has the support of President Trump.
With difficult comps due to strong political revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, how did TEGNA perform in the final three months of 2025? It beat the Street once again on its earnings per share — this time by 5 cents over the consensus estimate. TEGNA has exceeded the EPS consensus estimate in each quarter since Q1 2025.
On an adjusted basis, TEGNA enjoyed earnings per share of $0.50, beating the $0.45 estimate from analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance. That compared to adjusted EPS of $1.21 in Q4 2024.
Looking closer at the results, TEGNA said Distribution revenue was slightly lower at $358 million due to subscriber declines. Advertising and Marketing Services revenue grew 4% to $322 million. This was driven by growth in both linear and local digital advertising, and was partially offset by “TV advertising market challenges” and lower Premion-related revenue as the company “continues to cycle through the exit of a major exclusive reseller partner disclosed last quarter.”
