Tegna, Inc.

Type	Public Spin-Off
Traded as	NYSE: TGNA
Predecessor	Gannett Company
Founded	June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29) As a Spin-Off of Gannett
Headquarters	McLean, Virginia
Key people	Gracia Martore (President & CEO) Marjorie Magner (Chairman) Dave Lougee (President, Tegna Media) John Williams (President, Tegna Digital)
Products	Television Internet Media
Slogan	Reach, Inspire, Inform.
Website	tegna.com

Tegna, Inc. (stylized as TEGNA) is a publicly traded broadcast and digital media company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. It was formed on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company spun off its publishing assets – which retained the "Gannett" name – in order to focus on its more profitable broadcast television and digital media divisions. Tegna owns or operates 46 television stations (which, alongside those historically owned by Gannett, includes stations that had recently been acquired by Gannett from Belo Corporation and the London Broadcasting Company), and is the largest group owner of stations affiliated with NBC and CBS, and properties in digital media.

History[edit]

On August 5, 2014, Gannett announced that it plans to split into two independent publicly-traded companies, one focusing on its newspapers and publishing, which will retain the Gannett name, and one on broadcasting. Robert Dickey – who currently leads Gannett's newspaper group — will serve as CEO of the former company, leaving Gannett's remaining broadcasting and digital operations under the leadership of Gracia Martore. In a statement, she explained that the split plans were "significant next steps in our ongoing initiatives to increase shareholder value by building scale, increasing cash flow, sharpening management focus, and strengthening all of our businesses to compete effectively in today's increasingly digital landscape." Additionally, the company announced that it would buy out the remainder of Classified Ventures (a joint venture between Gannett and several other media companies) for $1.8 billion, giving it full ownership of properties such as Cars.com.^[1][2]

On April 21, 2015, Gannett announced that the publishing arm would continue to use the Gannett name, while the broadcasting and digital company would be named Tegna.^[3] The split was completed on June 29, 2015.^[4] The spinoff was structured in a way that TEGNA was the legal successor of the old Gannett, while the "new" Gannett is a new, debt-free company. The name "Tegna" is a nod to its former parent company, with the name serving as a partial anagram that omits a second "N" and "T" from that of its predecessor.

Assets[edit]

Tegna Media[edit]

As of June 2015, Tegna Media currently owns 46 television stations located in 38 markets (including seven duopolies).^[5] 18 of the company's stations are affiliated with NBC (including a semi-satellite of KCEN-TV and a digital subchannel of KBMT), ten are affiliated with CBS, nine are affiliated with ABC, and three are affiliated with Fox. In addition, the company owns one CW affiliate, three MyNetworkTV affiliates and one independent station.

It also provides operational services to three stations (one NBC affiliate, one ABC affiliate, one Fox affiliate and one MyNetworkTV affiliate – the latter two are also operated as part of a virtual duopoly) in the respective markets of Portland, Oregon; Louisville, Kentucky and Tucson, Arizona through shared services agreements with Sander Media and Tucker Operating Co. The Sander agreements were struck prior to the Gannett-Tegna split-off following the company's 2013 acquisition of Belo, due to ownership conflicts with Gannett-owned newspapers in the three markets (and in Tucson, due to FCC ownership limits that resulted in the separation of a legal duopoly that existed under Belo ownership). However, soon after the Gannett-Tegna split was completed, Tegna and Sander announced plans to have Tegna acquire the latter company's stations outright.^[6]

Television stations[edit]

Stations are listed alphabetically by state and city of license.

Notes of prior ownership or current shared services agreement:

• (**) - Indicates a station owned by Combined Communications prior to its acquisition by the Gannett Company in 1978.
• (~~) - Indicates a station owned by Multimedia, Inc. prior to its acquisition by the Gannett Company in 1995.
• (##) – Indicates stations involved in the Gannett Company's station trade deal with Argyle Television Holdings II in 1997.
• (¤¤) – Indicates a station owned by Belo prior to its acquisition by the Gannett Company in 2013.
• (++) – Indicates a station owned by the London Broadcasting Company prior to its acquisition by the Gannett Company in 2014.^[7]
• (‡‡) – Indicates a station owned by Sander Media. Tegna operates these stations through shared services agreements, but plans to acquire them outright.
• (††) – KMSB is owned by Sander Media; KTTU is owned by Tucker Operating Company. Tegna and Raycom Media affiliate KOLD-TV (CBS) operate these stations through shared services agreements.
• (§§) – KVUE was previously owned by Gannett from 1986 to 1999, when it was traded to Belo in exchange for KXTV.

Cable networks[edit]

All of these are news networks owned by Belo prior to acquisition by Gannett.

TEGNA Digital[edit]

Gannett Company spun-off most of its internet media properties to TEGNA.^[8] When the total internet media division was part of the Gannett Company, it managed the websites for USA Today, as well as Gannett’s newspaper and broadcast properties throughout the United States. It owns:

References[edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Station assigned to licensee Pacific and Southern Company, Inc.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Station assigned to licensee King Broadcasting Company.