NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP, INC. (NXST) Business

Item 1. Business

Company Overview

We are a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across our television and digital platforms, including more than 317,000 hours of programming produced annually by our business units. Nexstar owns America’s largest local television broadcasting group comprised of top network affiliates, with over 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets in 40 states and the District of Columbia reaching over 225 million people. Nexstar’s national television properties include an 80.8% interest in The CW Network, LLC (“The CW”), the fifth major broadcast network in the U.S., NewsNation, a national news network providing “News for All Americans,” two popular entertainment multicast networks, Antenna TV and REWIND TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in Television Food Network, G.P. (“TV Food Network”). The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including its local TV station apps and websites, The Hill and NewsNationNow.com, is collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property, attracting over 90 million monthly unique users on average during 2025 according to Comscore.

On August 18, 2025, we entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) to acquire the outstanding equity of TEGNA (such transaction, the “Merger”). TEGNA owns and operates 64 television stations and two radio stations in 51 DMAs in the U.S. The Merger is anticipated to close by the second half of 2026. For more information see the “Merger Agreement with TEGNA” paragraph later in this Item 1.

We are a Delaware corporation formed in 1996. Our principal offices are at 545 E. John Carpenter Freeway, Suite 700, Irving, TX 75062. Our telephone number is (972) 373-8800 and our website is http://www.nexstar.tv. The information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is not incorporated herein by reference.

Competitive Strengths

Focus on Broadcast Television. The substantial majority of our assets, including our television stations, The CW and our multicast networks, are broadcast television assets. Our television stations are affiliates of CBS, FOX, NBC and ABC (together, the “Big 4”), as well as The CW and MyNetworkTV (“MNTV”). We are the first, second or third largest affiliate group for each broadcast network. According to Nielsen, the Big 4 broadcast networks carry the nation’s most-watched programming by a significant margin (including the substantial majority of National Football League (“NFL”) games). The broadcast television model has several inherent advantages: (i) it reaches more viewers than any other distribution model, including multichannel and other select pay television subscribers as well as the 18% of the population that only receives their television programming over the air, (ii) it is the preferred distribution platform for most professional sports organizations delivering the widest reach to their fanbases, thereby enhancing franchise value, and (iii) it remains under-monetized as broadcast stations receive a lower percentage of total programming fees paid to content providers by distributors (e.g., cable companies, satellite companies and multichannel streaming platform providers) than the aggregate viewership they generate.

Unique Combination of Scaled Local Audiences and Powerful National Reach. We are the largest local television broadcasting company in the United States, generating $4.9 billion of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025. Our and our partners’ over 200 broadcast stations in 116 local markets reach approximately 70% of U.S. television households (without applying the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) ultra-high-frequency (“UHF”) discount). This local reach is augmented by the national reach we have via our broadcast network, The CW, and our national news network, NewsNation. According to Nielsen, The CW reaches over 128 million television households, equal to the reach of the ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC broadcast networks, and NewsNation reaches approximately 58 million television households, virtually equivalent to the reach of Fox News, MS NOW and CNN. Together, Nexstar can provide both national reach and activation of local audiences at scale, representing a differentiated and attractive value proposition for advertisers and brands in an increasingly fragmented marketplace.

Leading Local Franchises. We are focused on building and maintaining leading local franchises in the 116 local markets we serve. In total, we employ approximately 6,000 journalists and 1,600 salespeople, produce over 317,000 hours of programming, and have relationships with over 50,000 advertisers. For the year ended December 31, 2025, excluding our owned network assets, the Company earned approximately 68% of its advertising revenue from local (non-network) programming.

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Recognizable Local Brands. Our television stations have typically been established in our markets for decades. Our long-term, track record of reliable local news and community outreach initiatives, provides us with strong local brand recognition and affinity which helps generate viewership and advertising sales.

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High Quality, Independent Local Programming. Our strong local brands are primarily attributable to our high-quality local programming, including news, lifestyle, sports and syndicated programming. All of the news programming produced by Nexstar stations rated by a third-party watchdog group, Ad Fontes, is judged to be politically neutral. In

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addition, according to Ad Fontes, virtually all of the news programming has a reliability rating of “reliable; analysis/fact reporting.” In 2025, journalists at our stations won 531 awards for their reporting, including 56 Edward R. Murrow awards and 121 Emmy awards.

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Local Sales Force. We employ a local sales force in each of our markets which capitalize on our investment in local programming, websites and connected television (“CTV”) or over-the-top (“OTT”) applications by selling advertising on these platforms as well as selling third-party digital advertising inventory to enhance advertiser campaigns.

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Presence in Contested Election Markets. In even-numbered years, when most elections are held, we have historically generated substantial revenue from locally driven political advertising. Given our expansive geographic reach, our station footprint typically overlaps with over 80% of contested election markets, enabling us to capture a relatively consistent share of total television broadcasting political advertising spending in election years.

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Duopolies. We own or provide services to more than one station in more than half of our markets which enhances our service to local communities, broadens our audience share, increases our revenue share, and enables significant operating efficiencies.

Strong National Brands. We have a portfolio of scaled, strong national brands that enables us to meaningfully engage with national advertisers. Our primary national brands include The CW, NewsNation and The Hill. The CW is America’s fifth national broadcast network. NewsNation is our news network providing fact-based, unbiased “News for All Americans.” The Hill is the nation’s leading, independent political digital media platform.

Diversified Revenue Streams. Our revenue streams are diversified by geography, affiliation and source. In 2025, we generated 59% of our revenue from distribution, 40% from advertising (approximately 39% from commercial sources and 1% from political sources), and 1% from other sources. No single customer generated more than 13% of our revenue; no single market generated more than 3% of our revenue; and our affiliations are diverse with no network affiliate group representing more than 25% of our 2025 combined core and political advertising net revenue.

Intense Operational Focus. We emphasize strict controls on operating and programming costs in order to increase net income, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. We continually seek to identify and implement cost savings at each of our stations, the stations we provide services to, and other business units. For example, during the fourth quarter of 2024, we implemented a strategic, operational restructuring which enabled us to reduce overall operating expenses before one-time and transaction-related expenses, from 2024 to 2025. We achieved these cost reductions by reducing middle management in our ad sales division, streamlining work processes at our local markets to improve productivity, and improving integration of The CW and The Hill into the broader organization, among other initiatives. In addition, we are able to achieve economies of scale by leveraging our size and corporate management expertise by providing programming, financial, sales and marketing support to our owned stations, the stations to which we provide services and to other business units. Our operational execution expertise is the direct result of our talented management team. We seek to attract and retain corporate, business unit and station general managers with proven track records by providing equity incentives.

Attractive Financial Profile. In 2025 and 2024, we generated total net revenue of $4.9 billion and $5.4 billion, respectively, generated net cash flow from operating activities of $891 million and $1.25 billion, respectively, and returned a significant percentage of that cash flow to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends—$351 million in 2025 and $820 million in 2024—while maintaining a corporate credit rating of Ba3 / BB+ as rated by Moody’s / S&P. We believe we have the financial flexibility to invest in both organic and inorganic growth initiatives while continuing to return capital to our shareholders. In 2026, we anticipate we will use some of our financial capacity to execute on the acquisition of TEGNA.

Growth Strategies

We continually seek to generate revenue, net income, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow growth through the following strategies:

Leverage Our Scale. As the largest local television broadcaster with significant and scaled national media properties, we believe we are an important partner for the major broadcast networks as we are one of the largest affiliate groups for each network, multichannel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”) and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (“vMVPDs”) who include our programming in their consumer offerings, and advertisers. For national advertisers, we have a collection of national networks/properties including The CW, NewsNation, Antenna TV and The Hill as well as television stations covering 70% of the country (without applying the FCC UHF discount) including eight of the top 10 and 18 of the top 25 DMAs. Our digital assets attract an audience that makes us a top ten digital news and information property, according to Comscore. Our scale provides us with beneficial operating advantages in the form of services we can provide to our advertisers, audience and employees, a platform for growth and operating expense synergies and access to capital. As part of this strategy, in 2023, we centralized our national

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advertising sales in house in order to drive advertising sales across our diversified media portfolio by further emphasizing our client-first approach, combined with a new data-driven, multi-platform focus.

Continue to Grow Distribution and Advertising Revenues. We believe our core business of distribution and advertising revenue has the potential to continue to grow. We believe that the share of audience that our programming generates for MVPDs and vMVPDs is greater than the share of fees those platforms pay us and that broadcast advertising continues to provide commercial and political advertisers with access to the broadest television audience available. In addition, we are focused on better monetizing our digital content and audience and growing our portfolio of digital products, services and content and associated revenue streams, including apps for NewsNation, The Hill and other local television station programming.

Improve and Expand National Broadcast and Cable Networks. We seek to continue to increase the viewership, revenues and profitability of our national television network assets, The CW and NewsNation.

The CW. As the largest affiliate of The CW, we acquired the network in September 2022 (for no consideration) in order to sustain and grow our CW-related revenue streams and to improve this underexploited national broadcast network asset. Our growth strategy for The CW has been to cost-efficiently improve and diversify the programming to better align with broadcast audiences with the intention of improving ratings and revenue (both distribution and advertising) while reducing programming and other operating costs. Since we made the acquisition, we have (i) increased the hours of programming provided by the network by almost 60%, (ii) introduced sports and sports-related programming through the creation of CW Sports with the acquisition of exclusive broadcast rights to NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series), WWE NXT, ACC college football and basketball, Pac-12 football games, AVP beach volleyball, PBR Team Series, and Professional Bowlers Association events, among other events, and (iii) increased the percentage of total programming hours offered by the network in 2025 related to sports and sports-related programming to over 40% from 0% at acquisition, all while reducing programming costs by more than 50% and improving operating cash flows of the network. In addition, we have been able to grow The CW’s distribution revenue while increasing the number of CW affiliations held by us and our partners to 58, representing 48.2% of total U.S. TV households. We and our partners together own the largest group of CW affiliates, larger than any of the Big 4 networks’ ownership of their respective network-affiliated stations. We believe there is potential for The CW to further improve its profitability and, together with Nexstar’s CW station affiliates, the overall net profit contribution to Nexstar.

NewsNation. NewsNation is our national news network providing “News for All Americans,” which has been recognized by independent watchdog groups such as Ad Fontes Media, NewsGuard and AllSides for its independent, unbiased reporting of national and local news. In 2024, NewsNation successfully expanded to 24 hours of news programming seven days a week. NewsNation was launched in 2020, when we initiated the conversion of WGN America to NewsNation, leveraging our core competency in news and profitable foundation to build a network focused on providing unbiased, fact-based news. We believe there is significant growth potential for NewsNation as news networks are among the most watched and most profitable cable networks.

Develop New Revenue Streams. We seek to generate new revenue streams leveraging the platform and assets of our company. Given our extensive station portfolio and geographic coverage, we have converted the technology used by our stations reaching 50% of U.S. television households to a new standard, ATSC 3.0, which will enable us to provide new high speed data transmission services to businesses and consumers. We anticipate that this conversion will enable us to develop a new business and generate additional revenue in the future.

Acquire and Invest in New and Complementary Businesses. We selectively pursue acquisitions where we believe we can improve revenue, net income, Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow. Historically, we have been able to achieve significant improvements from acquisitions of television broadcasting assets by applying our favorable distribution contracts to newly acquired stations, reducing costs by creating duopolies or operating stations together in selected markets and executing on other overhead and cost-based synergies. We plan to continue to pursue television station acquisitions. In addition, we may selectively pursue acquisitions of businesses that leverage our platform, scale and capabilities and are complementary to our vision of providing local news, entertainment, and sports content through broadcast and digital platforms as well as serving the local advertiser.

Merger Agreement with TEGNA

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, we will acquire TEGNA’s outstanding equity for a cash payment of $22 per share (the “Merger Consideration”). The transaction is valued at an estimated $6.2 billion, which includes the estimated purchase price of $5.8 billion (comprising the Merger Consideration and the refinancing of certain existing TEGNA debt), financing fees and transaction costs and expenses. On August 18, 2025, we entered into a debt commitment letter, which was subsequently amended and restated on September 11, 2025, pursuant to which a syndicate of financial institutions committed to provide debt financing up to a maximum of $5.725 billion to consummate the Merger, the refinancing of certain of TEGNA’s existing debt and related transactions.

The Merger has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and by the stockholders of TEGNA and is anticipated to close by the second half of 2026, subject to (i) FCC consent, (ii) receipt of other regulatory approvals including

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expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended and (iii) satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The Merger does not require approval of Nexstar stockholders and is not subject to any financing condition.

The Merger Agreement contains certain termination rights for both parties. Either party may terminate the Merger Agreement if the Merger is not consummated at or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 18, 2026, which may be extended to November 18, 2026 at the election of either TEGNA or Nexstar if all conditions other than certain regulatory conditions have been satisfied or waived. If the Merger Agreement is terminated by either party under certain circumstances, including because certain required regulatory clearances are not obtained on or before November 18, 2026, Nexstar will be required to pay TEGNA a termination fee of $125 million.

Proposed Merger highlights:

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Preserves high-quality local journalism and diversity of opinion. Combines two best-in-class television broadcast companies which share an unwavering commitment to localism, innovation, and superior, trustworthy programming.

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Increases operational and geographic diversity and scale. Upon closing, Nexstar, together with its partners, will have 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia and 132 of the country’s 210 television DMAs. The combined company will have stations in 9 of the top 10 DMAs, 41 of the top 50 DMAs, 62 of the top 75 DMAs and 82 of the top 100 DMAs, covering, in total, 80% of U.S. television households. The enhanced scale of the Company will enable us to compete better with the much larger technology and media companies in our industry.

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Enhances presence in local DMAs. Nexstar’s station footprint overlaps with TEGNA in 35 of TEGNA’s 51 DMAs, providing improved synergy potential in these markets.

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Extends footprint to additional contested election DMAs. The addition of strong Big-4 affiliates in key contested election DMAs, such as Phoenix, AZ, Atlanta, GA, Toledo, OH, and Portland, ME, will enhance the political advertising outlook for Nexstar in even-numbered years.

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Expected to drive increased profitability through identified synergies. We have identified contractual revenue, station-level, and corporate overhead cost savings that can be achieved through the combination.

Stations

As of February 26, 2026, we owned, operated, programmed or provided sales and other services to 201 full power television stations in 116 markets in 40 states and the District of Columbia, reaching approximately 39% of all U.S. television households reflecting our owned stations only and after applying the FCC UHF discount and approximately 70% of all U.S. television households reflecting our and our partners’ stations and excluding the FCC UHF discount. The stations are affiliates of CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, The CW, MNTV and other broadcast television networks and provide television programming to consumers in our markets, including network programming, content that the stations produce, including local news, and syndicated programs that the stations acquire. We also own and operate one AM radio station in Chicago, IL.

Of the 201 full power television stations, 37 are 100% independently owned by VIEs. We consolidate 35 of these VIEs (the “consolidated VIEs”) in our financial statements. In compliance with FCC regulations for all the parties, all VIEs maintain responsibility for and control over programming, finances, personnel and operations of their stations. For the consolidated VIEs, we are deemed under U.S. GAAP to have controlling financial interests in these entities because of Nexstar’s (i) local service agreements with the consolidated VIEs’ stations, (ii) guarantee (excluding The CW) of the obligations incurred under the senior secured credit facility of Mission Broadcasting, Inc. (“Mission”), a consolidated VIE, (iii) power over significant activities affecting the consolidated VIEs’ economic performance, including budgeting for advertising revenue, certain advertising sales and, in some cases, hiring and firing of sales force personnel, and (iv) renewable, exercisable and assignable purchase options granted by each consolidated VIE which permit Nexstar to acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of all of the consolidated VIEs’ stations at any time, subject to FCC consent. For additional information on VIEs, see Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part IV, Item 15(a) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following table sets forth general information about the television stations (full power, low power, and multicast channels) we own, operate, program or provide sales and other services to as of February 2026. Bold denotes networks owned by Nexstar.

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(1)
Market rank refers to ranking the size of the DMA in which the station is located in relation to other DMAs. Source: 2025-2026 Nielsen Local Television Market Universe Estimates, as published by The Nielsen Company.

(2)
O&O refers to stations that we own and operate. LSA, or local service agreement, is the general term we use to refer to a contract under which we provide services utilizing our employees to a station owned and operated by an independent third-party. Local service agreements include TBAs, SSAs, JSAs, LMAs and outsourcing agreements. For further information regarding the LSAs to which we are a party, see Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part IV, Item 15(a) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(3)
These stations are operating under channel sharing arrangements with another Company station in the same market.

(4)
Application for renewal of license was submitted timely to the FCC. Under the FCC’s rules, the license expiration date is automatically extended pending FCC review of and action on the renewal application.

Network Affiliations

All, except two, of the full power television stations that we own and operate, program or provide sales and other services to are currently affiliated with a network pursuant to an affiliation agreement. The agreements with CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, and The CW are the most significant to our operations. The current terms of these agreements expire as discussed below:

(1)
These affiliation agreements are owned by stations to which we provide sales and other services. We do not consolidate these stations in our financial statements due to lack of a deemed controlling financial interest under U.S. GAAP.

Each affiliation agreement provides the affiliated station with the right to broadcast all programs transmitted by the network with which it is affiliated. In exchange, the network receives affiliation fees from us and has the right to sell a substantial majority of the advertising time during these broadcasts. We expect the network affiliation agreements listed above to be renewed upon expiration.

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Networks

We own, operate or have an ownership interest in the following:

(1)
Source: Nielsen, January 2026

(2)
Source: Internal estimates

The CW. The CW is America’s fifth major broadcast network and is available to 100% of U.S. television households. The CW delivers 15 hours of primetime entertainment programming and three hours of children’s programming per week in addition to almost 690 hours of sports programming in 2026 as the broadcast home to NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series; WWE NXT; college football and men’s and women’s basketball from the ACC, Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences; AVP beach volleyball, PBR Team Series; and Professional Bowlers Association (“PBA”) events. For its smaller market affiliates, CWPlus supplements The CW programming with additional syndicated content to provide 24 hours of programming, seven days per week. The fully ad-supported CW App, with more than 100 million downloads to date, is available for free to consumers on all major platforms and is home to the latest episodes and seasons of The CW’s primetime programming and a library of entertaining film and television content for on-demand viewing.

NewsNation. NewsNation is a national news network reaching approximately 58 million television households across the United States providing “News for All Americans.” Validated by independent watchdog groups, the network delivers engaging and unbiased news, reflecting the full range of perspectives across the country. NewsNation draws upon the expertise of approximately 6,000 journalists from 109 newsrooms across the country and its own dedicated national staff. NewsNation is fully distributed on every pay television platform in the United States, online at www.newsnationnow.com, and on the NewsNationNow mobile app, available on Android and iOS.

Antenna TV and REWIND TV. Antenna TV and REWIND TV are multicast networks reaching 100% and over 50% of U.S. television households, respectively. The networks primarily air sitcom hits from the 1950s through the 1990s.

TV Food Network. We hold a 31.3% interest in TV Food Network, which annually distributes significant cash flow to us. TV Food Network operates two 24-hour television networks, Food Network and Cooking Channel, offering quality television, video, internet and mobile entertainment and information focusing on food and entertaining. During 2025, we received cash distributions from TV Food Network totaling $137 million. Our partner in TV Food Network is Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., which owns a 68.7% interest in TV Food Network and operates the networks on behalf of the partnership.

Digital Assets

Our digital businesses include video and display advertising platforms that are delivered locally or nationally through our own and various third-party websites, mobile and OTT applications, other digital media solutions to media publishers and advertisers and a consumer product reviews platform. Our digital assets include 125 websites and 229 mobile applications across our local stations, NewsNation and The Hill. The portfolio also includes 110 connected television applications and three free ad-supported television (“FAST”) channels from The CW and The Hill.

The Hill. The Hill is the nation’s leading digital-first political news brand and the definitive source for non-partisan political news and information. Inside the Beltway, The Hill is known as an essential, agenda-setting read for lawmakers and influencers. Beyond the Capitol, millions of Americans turn to The Hill to decode how events in Washington will impact their communities and lives.

BestReviews. BestReviews is a leading consumer product recommendations company which simplifies the way consumers buy products and services across thousands of categories by independently researching, analyzing, and testing products and recommending the best picks. BestReviews monetizes its content through a revenue share model with its retail partners against all sales generated by BestReviews, as well as advertising.

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Operating Model

Our primary business is the production and/or acquisition of video and digital content which we air on our television stations, digital assets and/or television networks. Our content attracts millions of viewers which we primarily monetize through distribution and advertising revenue. Our primary operating expenses include programming, cost of digital inventory, production, promotion, sales and other administrative expenses.

We seek to grow our revenue, net income, Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow by continuing to provide high quality programming that attracts and engages audiences, as our reach and consumer engagement are important to our distribution partners and advertisers. We use our industry-leading scale to assist us in securing distribution revenue streams, to provide advertisers with solutions across geographies and media types to engage both local and national audiences at scale and to leverage costs against a broader platform. In addition, we plan to continue to acquire or invest in businesses that can benefit from our scale, asset mix and record of management and cost discipline.

Distribution Revenue

Our distribution revenue primarily relates to the retransmission of our stations’ signals and the carriage of our cable and broadcast networks by cable, satellite and other MVPDs, vMVPDs, and other direct-to-consumer OTT services. Distributors generally pay for retransmission and carriage rights on a per subscriber basis. Distribution revenue is affected positively or negatively by the rate of growth or decline of subscribers and the rate of growth or decline in the fee per subscriber due to contract renegotiations or annual escalators in existing contracts. Over the past several years, the number of MVPD subscribers has been declining but we have been able to increase our distribution revenue, excluding certain one-time items, as vMVPD and other direct-to-consumer OTT subscribers have been increasing, and the rates per subscriber paid by MVPDs for our programming have increased at a faster pace than subscribers have declined. If subscriber losses exceed our contractual rate increases in the future, our distribution revenue could be adversely affected.

We also generate distribution revenues from the affiliation fees paid by local broadcast stations affiliated with The CW and from programmers who use our broadcast spectrum in selected local markets to air their programming on our multicast streams.

Advertising Revenue

Our advertising revenue is primarily derived from the sale of local and national advertising on our stations, networks, websites, apps and other digital platforms or via third party media primarily to local and national businesses. In even-numbered years, we generate substantial advertising revenue from the political advertising we sell to candidates, political action committees, political parties, and interest groups.

Advertisers typically pay for advertising on our television and digital assets based on the number of impressions our programming or digital content delivers. As a result, our advertising is affected by a number of factors, including the size and demographics of the audience viewing our programming and digital content, economic conditions, demand for advertising and our sales effort. We also generate digital advertising revenue from the sale of advertising on third-party sites and other local and national services. In addition, digital advertising that is not directly sold to advertisers is sold via programmatic exchanges.

Advertising revenue exhibits seasonal patterns, with the fourth quarter typically generating the highest level of activity reflecting elevated retail spending during the holiday season and NFL and college football programming. Major events such as the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl also contribute to periodic increases in advertising demand. Additionally, our advertising revenue varies significantly across annual periods due to the cyclical nature of political advertising. In even-numbered years, we generate substantial revenue from advertising purchased by candidates, political action committees, political parties, and other political organizations. Political advertising levels are influenced by the number and competitiveness of races, the presence of our stations in key political markets, fundraising activity, the availability and pricing of television inventory, and the use of alternative media channels. Given our scale and broad market footprint, we typically operate in most major markets with competitive political races. During these even‑year cycles, heightened political demand can consume a significant portion of our available inventory, creating a “crowd-out” effect that typically reduces the amount of non‑political advertising we are able to accommodate.

Other Revenue

Our other revenue primarily includes licensing, tower space rental, production, and sale of advertising spots in exchange for products or services.

Operating Expenses

Our primary operating expenses include third-party programming, news programming, production and promotion, sales, digital cost of goods sold and content creation costs, and other administrative and corporate expenses. Third-party programming costs are primarily related to fees paid to networks with which our and our partners’ stations are affiliated, license fees for original

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and local sports programming, and syndicated programming in the case of the stations and our networks. The largest contributor to news programming and other expenses is employee-related expenses. A large percentage of the costs involved in our operations is relatively fixed.

Competition

Competition in the television industry takes place on several levels: competition for audience, competition for programming and competition for advertising.

Audience. We compete for audience primarily based on program popularity and exclusivity of programming to our platforms. The size of our audience has an effect on the rates we can secure from our distributors and a direct effect on the advertising rates we can charge our advertisers. We compete against other broadcast television programming, cable and satellite television programming and direct-to-consumer programming provided via a variety of streaming services, including some of the broadcast television networks with which our stations are affiliated. Other sources of competition for audience include the internet, gaming devices, home entertainment systems and video-on-demand. The CW, our broadcast television network, competes with other broadcast networks and other video programming for viewers and NewsNation, our national news network, competes with other national news networks such as FOX News, MS NOW, CNN, and Newsmax for viewers.

Programming. Our local television stations compete for syndicated programming from national program distributors or syndicators and compete to secure broadcast rights for regional and local sporting events. We compete against in-market broadcast station operators, cable networks and streaming services for exclusive access to this programming in our markets. In a different way, our local stations also compete with other stations in their markets to provide exclusive news stories and unique features such as investigative reporting and coverage of community events to their local audiences. The CW competes against other broadcast television and cable networks as well as other video providers, such as direct-to-consumer streaming platforms for television content. NewsNation competes against other cable news networks for talent and stories.

Advertising. Our stations compete for advertising revenue with other television stations in their respective markets and other advertising media such as streaming video services (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Roku, YouTube, etc.), online media (e.g., Google, Meta, Tiktok, Snapchat, etc.), vMVPDs, MVPDs, radio stations, newspapers, outdoor advertising, and direct mail, among others. Competition for local advertising dollars occurs primarily within individual markets. The CW also competes for advertising revenue with other broadcast networks and other advertising-supported national programming. NewsNation also competes for advertising revenue with other national news networks such as FOX News, MS NOW, CNN and Newsmax and other advertising-supported national programming.

Federal Regulation

Television broadcasting is subject to the jurisdiction of the FCC under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Communications Act”). The following is a brief discussion of certain provisions of the Communications Act and the FCC’s regulations and policies that affect our operations. These rules are subject to change, which may affect our operations.

FCC Licenses, Renewals and Transfers

License Grant and Renewal. The Communications Act requires broadcast stations to operate under licenses issued by the FCC. Television broadcast licenses are granted for a maximum term of eight years and may be renewed upon application to the FCC. The FCC grants an application for license renewal if the station served the public interest, the licensee did not commit any serious violations of the Communications Act or the FCC’s rules and the licensee committed no other violations which, taken together, would constitute a pattern of abuse. A majority of renewal applications are routinely granted under this standard. We consistently have received license renewal approvals in the past and are permitted to continue operations when renewal is delayed; however, there are no assurances that this will be the case in the future.

Station Transfer. The Communications Act prohibits the assignment or the transfer of control of a broadcast station’s FCC license without prior FCC approval.

Foreign Ownership Restrictions

The Communications Act limits the extent of non-U.S. ownership of companies that own U.S. broadcast stations, generally prohibiting more than 20% non-U.S. ownership (by vote and by equity) in a U.S. broadcast licensee and more than 25% indirect foreign ownership or control of such licensee through a parent company. The FCC will entertain and may authorize, on a case-by-case basis, proposals to exceed the 25% indirect foreign ownership limit in broadcast licensees.

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Multiple Ownership Rules

The FCC’s multiple ownership rules restrict the number of television stations in which a single person or entity may have an “attributable interest.”

Ownership Attribution. For purposes of determining compliance with the multiple ownership rules, the FCC considers the “attributable interests” in a broadcast station licensee held by an individual or entity. The following are considered “attributable interests”: (i) for corporations, officership, directorship and voting stock interests of 5% or more (20% or more in the case of certain passive investors), (ii) for partnerships and limited liability companies, any general partnership interest, and any limited partnership interest or limited liability company interest that is not properly “insulated” from involvement in the partnership’s media activities and (iii) more than 33% of a licensee’s total assets (defined as total debt plus total equity), if the holder of such interest also provides over 15% of the station’s total weekly broadcast programming or has an attributable interest in another media entity in the same market which is subject to the FCC’s ownership rules. If a shareholder of Nexstar holds a voting stock interest of 5% or more (20% or more in the case of certain passive investors), we must report that shareholder, its parent entities, and attributable individuals and entities of both, as attributable interest holders in Nexstar.

Local Television Multiple Ownership (Duopoly) Rule. Under the local television multiple ownership, or “duopoly,” rule, a single entity is allowed to own or have attributable interests in two television stations in a DMA if (i) the two stations do not have overlapping service areas, or (ii) at least one of the two stations is not ranked among the top four stations in the DMA in terms of audience share (subject to certain exceptions based on a case-by-case determination). The duopoly rule also allows the FCC to consider waivers to permit the ownership of a second station, where otherwise prohibited, where the second station has failed or is failing or unbuilt. In 2023, the FCC extended the duopoly rule to prohibit, in certain circumstances, the acquisition of a network affiliation that would establish a “top four” combination involving a network-affiliated LPTV station or digital multicast stream. In October 2025, the Eighth Circuit vacated the top four prohibition, finding that the FCC had not justified its retention. In addition, the FCC is considering the Duopoly Rule in its open ownership rulemaking proceeding. We anticipate the FCC will issue its decision in this proceeding later this year. In certain markets, the Company owns and operates both full-power and low-power television (“LPTV”) broadcast stations. (See Regulatory Developments.)

National Television Multiple Ownership Rule. The FCC’s rules limit the percentage of U.S. television households which a party may reach through its attributable interests in television stations to 39%. When calculating a party’s nationwide aggregate audience coverage, the ownership of a UHF station is counted as 50% of a market’s percentage of total national audience. In December 2017, the FCC initiated a proceeding to broadly reexamine its national television ownership rule. In June 2025, the FCC issued a public notice soliciting comment to refresh the record of this proceeding in the comment period in the proceeding closed in August 2025, and the proceeding remains pending.

Local Service Agreements. The FCC applies the local television ownership limits to a non-owned station when the owner of a station in the same market provides more than 15% of the second station’s weekly broadcast programming. However, local marketing agreements entered into prior to November 5, 1996 (“grandfathered LMAs”) are exempt from this attribution rule until the FCC determines otherwise. This “grandfathering” is subject to possible extension or termination in a future FCC review. Nexstar is currently a party to certain grandfathered LMAs. Under current FCC rules, JSAs and SSAs between independently owned television stations that do not involve the provision of programming exceeding the 15% threshold noted above are non-attributable but must be publicly disclosed, and the FCC may in the future consider regulations with respect to such agreements. Nexstar is currently a party to certain JSA and SSA agreements whereby it provides services to independently owned stations.

Quadrennial Review of Media Ownership Rules. The FCC is required to review its media ownership rules every four years and to eliminate those rules it finds are no longer “necessary in the public interest as a result of competition.” In December 2023, the FCC issued an order concluding its 2018 quadrennial review. The order retained the local television ownership rule without deregulatory changes while extending the rule to prohibit, in certain circumstances, the acquisition of a network affiliation that would establish a “top four” combination involving a network affiliated LPTV station or digital multicast stream. In a July 2025 decision on appeal of the FCC’s 2018 quadrennial review order, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the “top four” portion of the local television ownership rule, which had generally prohibited common ownership of two of the top four highest-rated stations in a DMA. The court also vacated the December 2023 rule prohibiting certain “top four” combinations involving LPTV stations or digital multicast streams. The FCC has not yet issued an order repealing either of these prongs of the “top four” rule, although it has said it will not enforce it. Meanwhile, the comment period for the FCC’s 2022 quadrennial review closed in January 2026 and it is currently pending. Thus, the media ownership rules may be subject to change in response to current or future quadrennial reviews or other proceedings.

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Distribution by MVPDs and vMVPDs

MVPD Carriage of Local Television Signals. Broadcasters may obtain carriage of their television stations’ signals on cable, satellite and other MVPDs through either mandatory carriage or through “retransmission consent.” Every three years all stations must formally elect either mandatory carriage (“must-carry” for cable distributors and “carry one-carry all” for satellite television providers) or retransmission consent. The next election must be made by October 1, 2026, and will be effective January 1, 2027. Mandatory carriage elections require that the MVPD carry one station programming stream and related data in the station’s local market, subject to limited exceptions. MVPDs do not pay a fee to stations that elect mandatory carriage. We and our partners have elected “retransmission consent” for all of our stations.

A broadcaster, like Nexstar, that elects retransmission consent waives its mandatory carriage rights, and the broadcaster and the MVPD must negotiate terms for carriage of the station’s signal. If a broadcaster elects to negotiate retransmission terms, it is possible that the broadcaster and the MVPD will not reach agreement and that the MVPD will not carry the station’s signal. Pursuant to FCC rules and federal statutory law, all broadcasters and MVPDs must conduct retransmission consent negotiations in “good faith,” and a broadcaster may not undertake such negotiations for third parties including VIEs in markets where that broadcaster also owns a television station. MVPDs and broadcasters may file FCC complaints against each other for violations of the good faith negotiation rules, and such complaints have been filed against Nexstar in the past. We cannot predict the impact that any such complaints may have on our operations.

MVPDs have actively sought to change the regulations under which retransmission consent is negotiated before both the U.S. Congress and the FCC in order to increase their bargaining leverage with television stations, and there are still-open FCC proceedings to review these regulations.

Certain vMVPDs stream broadcast programming over the internet. In December 2014, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to interpret the term “MVPD” to encompass vMVPDs that make available for purchase multiple streams of video programming distributed at a prescheduled time and seeking comment on the effects of applying MVPD rules to such vMVPDs. The proceeding remains open.

Broadcast Transmission Standard (ATSC 3.0)

In November 2017, the FCC adopted rules to permit television broadcasters to voluntarily broadcast using a new broadcast television transmission standard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc., also referred to as “ATSC 3.0” or “NEXTGEN TV.” The ATSC 3.0 standard provides for a more efficient use of spectrum, which could enable us to provide additional services to consumers and businesses, including additional content, interactive television, signal encryption and data transmission services. We and our partners have adopted the ATSC 3.0 technology in stations covering over 50% of U.S. television households.

Because ATSC 3.0 is not compatible with existing television equipment, the FCC currently requires the stations which have adopted the ATSC 3.0 technology to continue broadcasting a signal in the existing standard with programming that is “substantially similar” to the programming broadcast on the ATSC 3.0 signal. Pursuant to a Third Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in June 2023, the “substantially similar” programming requirement is scheduled to sunset in July 2027. In October 2025, the FCC issued a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which proposes to eliminate the requirements that stations adopting ATSC 3.0 continue to broadcast a signal in the existing standard and that such signal (if the broadcaster chooses to air it) include substantially similar content. In addition, in June 2020, the FCC adopted a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking declaring that local and national ownership restrictions do not apply to non-video services provided on a broadcaster’s ATSC 3.0 spectrum.

In October 2025, the FCC released for public comment a Fifth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing significant revisions to the ATSC 3.0 regulatory framework to accelerate the transition to ATSC 3.0. The NPRM tentatively proposes the elimination of the requirements that broadcasters (i) simulcast their legacy ATSC 1.0 signal when deploying ATSC 3.0, (ii) broadcast “substantially similar” programming via ATSC 3.0 to what was broadcast via ATSC 1.0, and (iii) ensure that the ATSC 3.0 signal covers at least 95% of the ATSC 1.0 coverage area. In addition, it sought comment on allowing more efficient MPEG-4 encoding which could ease the transition by allowing more program streams in the same amount of spectrum, requiring an ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate, establishing a firm deadline for the sunset of ATSC 1.0 service, and extending existing MVPD carriage rules to television stations operating only in ATSC 3.0. The comment period in this rulemaking proceeding closed in February 2026 and it remains pending.

Other FCC Broadcast Regulations and Enforcement

The FCC continues to enforce its regulations concerning indecency, sponsorship identification, political advertising, good faith retransmission consent negotiation, unauthorized assignments and transfers of control, multiple ownership, children’s television, environmental concerns, emergency alerting and information, equal employment opportunity, technical operating matters, antenna

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tower maintenance, and other matters. The FCC may impose substantial forfeitures or, in extreme cases, revoke licenses if it determines that its rules have been violated.

Human Capital Management

Values. Our key human capital management objectives are to attract, develop, and retain top industry talent that reflects the communities in which we operate. We encourage every individual’s contribution and personal growth and foster work environments that provide personal pride through job satisfaction. We embrace the communities in which we operate and promote open communications, innovation and creativity.

Engagement and Opportunities. With markets ranging from small to large to national, we offer a broad range of employment opportunities for every experience level, including for those who are just starting their broadcasting career or those who are ready to move to a larger market or onto the national stage. Our varied markets allow us to give our employees room to grow and progress in their careers. Our management team supports a culture of developing future leaders from our existing workforce, enabling us to promote from within for many leadership positions. As of December 31, 2025, our voluntary retention rate for employees was approximately 83%.

Compensation and Benefits. We offer our employees a broad range of company-paid benefits and we believe our compensation package and benefits are competitive with others in our industry. Our employee wages are competitive and consistent with employee positions, experience, knowledge and location. Annual wage increases and incentive payments are based on merit and are communicated to employees as a part of the annual review process.

Equal Employment Opportunity. We believe in equal employment opportunities for all. As such, we are committed to complying with local state and federal anti-discrimination laws. We encourage a culture of respect, equal opportunity and non-discrimination.

Training. We are committed to developing the talents of our employees and provide our employees workplace training. Our catalog of courses includes harassment prevention, ethics, supervisor/manager skills, and health-related safety. Selected Nexstar employees also participate in annual training to ensure understanding of antitrust laws and how they apply to Nexstar, as well as a media sales training program provided by a third-party vendor.

Safety and Health. We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for our employees. All employees are required to comply with our safety rules and are expected to actively contribute to making our company a safer place to work. Employees must immediately report accidents, injuries, and unsafe equipment, practices or conditions to a supervisor or other designated person. Threats or acts of violence or physical intimidation are prohibited and subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

Employees. As of December 31, 2025, we had a total of 12,832 employees, comprised of 11,693 full-time and 1,139 part-time employees. As of December 31, 2025, 1,869 of our employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements. We believe that our employee relations are satisfactory, and we have not experienced any work stoppages at any of our facilities. However, we cannot assure you that our collective bargaining agreements will be renewed in the future, or that we will not experience a prolonged labor dispute, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Community Outreach. We pride ourselves on the opportunities we provide for our employees to give back to their communities. At the local level, our stations were actively involved in over 2,000 community outreach initiatives in 2025. Nexstar and its partner stations work with local community groups to increase awareness, raise money and otherwise assist these local groups with their missions. Stations run promotions and air content related to the initiatives and station employees participate in local events. On a companywide basis, annually Nexstar engages in a variety of initiatives as well, including, among others, Founder’s Day of Caring, an annual celebration of the founding of the Company by providing one day of service by our employees across the country to local non-profits and charities; Project Roadblock, a national multiplatform program aimed at preventing drunk driving, by donating airtime and news coverage to the issue; and Remarkable Women, Nexstar’s own initiative to celebrate local women to inspire, lead and pave the way for other women to succeed, by airing content and contributing to the winners’ charitable organizations of their choice.