Every time I see another media consolidation headline, I get déjà vu. The latest? Nexstar is buying Tegna for $6.2 billion, which will create one of the largest “local” TV empires in the country. If it feels like you’ve heard this story before, it’s because you have.
I’ve lived this story before — twice.
When I was in college at Ouachita, I worked at KYXK radio in Arkadelphia. I was the local reporter covering the Clark County Quorum Court, the Arkadelphia city board, and even the Gurdon City Council. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was real journalism that mattered to people where they lived. Folks tuned in because they wanted to know what their leaders were doing in their communities.
A few years later, I worked at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, helping launch their first online team. We were figuring out the internet in real time — trying to keep a century-old paper relevant in a digital world. Then came the collapse of classified ads. Suddenly, the paper’s business model was gutted. I lived through the first rounds of layoffs. The newsroom shrank. And with it, so did the depth of local coverage.
That’s the playbook. And here it is again:
Step 1: Buy Everything in Sight.
Chains scoop up local outlets. The announcement always sounds like progress — “efficiency,” “competing with Big Tech,” “more options for advertisers.”
Step 2: Squeeze the Local Out.
Costs get cut, operations centralized, content duplicated across markets. Anchors may still have local accents, but the stories sound the same in city after city.
Step 3: Watch the Audience Drift.
When people don’t see their own community reflected, they tune out. We saw it in newspapers. We saw it in radio. Now it’s happening in TV.
But here’s the part that gives me hope: I’ve also seen the rebound.
In newspapers, after the big chains squeezed out every ounce of profit, some locals stepped back in to revive hometown journalism. My college roommate and close friend Andrew Bagley is a perfect example. He saved The Helena World and The Waldron News and brought back the Monroe County Argus. He even served as president of the Arkansas Press Association, fighting for the survival of community news across the state.
That’s the lesson. Consolidation may feel like the end of local media, but it’s really just the middle of the story. Local always finds a way back, because communities want their own stories told by their own people.
So what does this mean if you’re in marketing or business today?
Don’t wait for the rebound. If your brand depends on local connection, invest now in hyper-local digital, influencers, sponsorships, and grassroots campaigns. Because while Nexstar and Tegna may own the airwaves, the real connection still happens in familiar places, with familiar voices.
Consolidation squeezes. Communities rebound. Local never goes away for long.