As the Senate prepares to examine whether to loosen longstanding limits on media consolidation, a new national poll obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter shows the Republican base is overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed Nexstar-Tegna merger, a deal critics like Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy warn would raise consumer costs, reduce local news coverage, and concentrate unprecedented control over local television in the hands of a single company.
The findings come just days before Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is set to hold a hearing Tuesday on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should loosen its national television ownership cap, which is currently set at 39 percent of U.S. households. Lifting or waiving that cap would allow Nexstar Media Group to complete its acquisition of Tegna, expanding its reach to more than 80 percent of American television households, more than double what the current cap permits.
According to a new survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, Republican primary voters oppose the Nexstar-Tegna merger by a 68 percent to 7 percent margin. After voters were informed about the practical effects of the merger, including higher prices, reduced local coverage, and increased centralized control, opposition surged to 96 percent, with more than eight in ten Republican voters saying they strongly oppose the deal.
The poll underscores how deeply local television news matters to the GOP electorate. More than seven in ten respondents said local news is personally important to them, and over 80 percent said they prefer their local stations to be locally owned rather than controlled by large national media conglomerates.
That preference stands in stark contrast to what the Nexstar-Tegna merger would create.
If approved, the combined company would control local television stations reaching more than 80 percent of American households, giving one corporation unprecedented influence over local broadcast markets.
That reach would include Nexstar owned NewsNation, which prominently features Chris Cuomo, a former CNN anchor whose political commentary has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives. In a recent social media post attacking former President Donald Trump, Cuomo linked to a nearly four-minute NewsNation clip attacking Trump.
On its 2025 third quarter earnings call, Nexstar executives acknowledged that consolidation would give the company greater leverage to raise retransmission fees charged to cable and satellite providers by nearly $300 million. Those costs, which cable companies pay to retransmit broadcast channels like ABC, CBS, and NBC on their systems, are routinely passed directly on to consumers. The poll found that nearly six in ten Republican primary voters said higher monthly television bills for families and seniors on fixed incomes was a very convincing reason to oppose the merger.
The polls findings come as Trump himself signaled support for the merger, but its longstanding critics like Ruddy’s Newsmax remain adamant that the FCC should oppose the plan.
“The Nexstar deal means dangerous consolidation that will limit competition, harm conservative voices and dramatically increase consumer cable bills,” Newsmax said. “We hope the president will reconsider his position.”
“It’s not going to work,” Ruddy previously explained. “The president doesn’t want this, and so I have no doubt that he will not support the FCC going to extraordinary but potentially illegal lengths.”
