Here is the email sent to the employees at Nexstar and Tegna, from Nexstar CEO Perry Sook.

While he makes it sound like rainbows and puppies, the truth is, that this is a dark time for the industry.

TO:        Employees of the Nexstar Nation
FR:         Perry A. Sook
RE:         Welcome to Day 1
DA:        March 20, 2026

Today marks an important and historic milestone for Nexstar Media Group, Inc. With the closing of the transaction announced last August, Nexstar and TEGNA are now one company, which I think of as “New Nexstar.” Together, we have an exciting array of assets in the U.S. focused on creating and delivering local content to the communities we serve, backed by the resources and collective vision necessary to adapt to the realities of a rapidly changing media environment. Our future is filled with both threats to our business and opportunities to continue to evolve our company to not only survive those threats but to thrive.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who worked so hard these last nine months to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion. Even more important, whether you are a long-time Nexstar employee or you are just joining the Nexstar Nation, we want to thank all of you for your continuing focus and commitment to serving our customers, viewers, users, and communities throughout the acquisition process.

Nexstar was built from a single TV station based on a commitment to serving its communities by producing and distributing the best possible local news and programming. New Nexstar today produces more than 400,000 hours of local content annually. Our local sales force does business with more than 60,000 SMBs in forty-four states. This local focus will continue to be our Northstar, and we will look for opportunities to expand our local content presence wherever possible.

Now, some important housekeeping information. For those of you joining us from TEGNA, you will be given credit for your years of service at TEGNA in terms of qualifying for Nexstar’s benefit and vacation policies. You will remain on your current TEGNA benefit plans and payroll system for the remainder of 2026. This ensures that you are not hit with double withholding taxes or double health insurance deductibles in this partial year period. Beginning in October, Nexstar’s Human Resources team will distribute detailed information about those plans as part of getting you prepared for Open Enrollment in November.

We are also pleased to invite our new colleagues to join us in participating in the celebration of Nexstar’s annual “Founder’s Day of Caring,” being held on Friday, June 12. It is a day when employees across the company are given half-day paid time-off to volunteer at local non-profit and/or community service organizations. This year’s Founder’s Day is particularly special, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Nexstar’s founding. More detailed information about this effort will be shared in the next several days, and we are excited for you to take part in this very special connection to our communities.

Finally, we will host a town hall meeting for all our employees next week, which we will broadcast to all our locations. We will talk about the roadmap ahead, our top priorities for the remainder of 2026, and our expectations through year-end and beyond.

To our newest employees, welcome to the Nexstar Nation! We are going to do great things together.

With gratitude and a great deal of excitement for what lies ahead,