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There have been no material changes to the risk factors that were previously disclosed in Item 1A in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the SEC on February 27, 2026, except the following risk factors are added due to the Merger. As a result of the Merger, TEGNA became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar.
Adverse results from litigation relating to the Merger could impact our business practices and operating results.
We are currently involved in legal proceedings with various parties seeking to enjoin the Merger. On March 18, 2026, a coalition of eight state attorneys general (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia, collectively, the “Initial States”) and DIRECTV, in two separate actions, brought civil lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against Nexstar and TEGNA seeking to enjoin Nexstar’s Merger with TEGNA. Both complaints allege, among other things, that the merger of Nexstar and TEGNA violates federal antitrust laws. The complaints were filed prior to the consummation of the Merger. On March 19, 2026, the Merger was consummated. On March 20, 2026, DIRECTV and the states requested temporary restraining orders (“TROs”) from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to prevent Nexstar and TEGNA from integrating their operations. On March 27, 2026, the court entered a TRO requiring Nexstar to hold TEGNA separate until further ruling. On April 17, 2026, the court entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting further integration of Nexstar and TEGNA, which became effective on April 21, 2026. On April 21, 2026, Nexstar filed a notice of appeal with respect to the preliminary injunction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Nexstar did not seek a stay of the preliminary injunction. On April 30, 2026, DIRECTV filed its Amended Complaint for Injunctive Relief and the Initial States plus the attorneys general for Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont filed Plaintiff States’ First Amended Complaint for Permanent Injunction. On May 21, 2026, Nexstar filed answers to the Amended Complaints of DIRECTV and the states. Discovery is ongoing, and the District Court has set a trial date of July 6, 2027. On July 8, 2026, briefing on Nexstar’s appeal of the preliminary injunction was completed, but the Court of Appeals has yet to set oral argument or issue a decision.
On March 21, 2026, six state cable associations (Pennsylvania, Washington, Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia) along with Newsmax filed a notice of appeal or, alternatively, petition for writ of mandamus in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the FCC approval of the Merger. These parties also sought a stay of the FCC approval order and injunctive relief similar to that sought in the California cases. On March 23, 2026, five public interest parties filed a similar notice of appeal or, alternatively, emergency petition for writ of mandamus in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the FCC approval, which was consolidated with the appeal filed by the cable associations. On April 28, 2026, the D.C. Circuit denied the emergency motions for a stay pending appeal finding the appellants had not satisfied the requirements for a stay. On July 9, 2026, the D.C. Circuit further denied the emergency petitions for writ of mandamus, denied those petitions’ stay requests under the All Writs Act, and dismissed the appeals for lack of jurisdiction. To date, the Appellants have not sought any further relief from the D.C. Circuit or the Supreme Court following this order.
Additional challenges to the FCC approval of the Merger and requests for stay and injunction have been filed at the agency. Other parties may also seek injunctive relief or other actions or remedies. Any adverse outcome in such lawsuits and any other lawsuits or legal challenges could have an adverse impact, which may be material, on our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to realize anticipated benefits and synergies from the Merger, or could result in the divestiture of selected assets or all TEGNA assets (see Note 10).
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In addition, as of March 2, 2026, three complaints were filed by purported stockholders of TEGNA in connection with the Merger as further described in Note 10. We assumed contingencies from these proceedings in connection with the Merger. The complaints generally allege that the preliminary proxy statement filed by TEGNA on September 17, 2025 in connection with the Merger or the definitive proxy statement filed by TEGNA on October 10, 2025 in connection with the Merger include false and misleading information and/or fail to disclose allegedly material information in violation of federal or state law. The complaints seek, among other things, to enjoin TEGNA from consummating the Merger, or in the alternative, rescission of the Merger and/or compensatory damages, as well as attorneys’ and expert fees. As of February 17, 2026, one of the litigations has been dismissed without prejudice for want of prosecution. In addition to these complaints, TEGNA has received demand letters from counsel representing purported stockholders of TEGNA, alleging similar deficiencies and/or omissions in the preliminary proxy statement or the definitive proxy statement. TEGNA believes that the allegations in these actions are without merit. Additional complaints arising out of the Merger may be filed in the future, and additional demand letters arising out of the Merger may be received in the future.
The FCC’s approval of the Merger requires us to comply with certain conditions. Failure to comply with these conditions could adversely affect our business operations.
In connection with the FCC’s approval of the Merger on March 19, 2026, we made certain commitments which the FCC adopted as binding conditions, including to (i) expand our investment in local news and programming, (ii) offer certain cable and satellite companies with which we have an existing retransmission consent agreement an extension of those agreements at existing rates until November 30, 2026, (iii) divest six television stations within two years, provided that a waiver of the FCC’s local television ownership rule remains necessary to own such stations at that time and (iv) promote nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity consistent with governing law. Our failure to comply with these conditions may result in FCC-imposed penalties that would negatively impact our business operations.