Mike Igoe
Associate Professor Mike Igoe is a “go-to” source for commentary on Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna.
Insight Associate Professor Igoe shared when interviewed by Susan Rose and Lucas Buckley on WBEN’s A New Morning program -- along with developments that occur in the weeks to come – will be incorporated into COMM 420: Communication Law and Ethics, a course he is teaching this semester that includes telecommunications regulations, among other topics.
It depends on what the network affiliation is, but absolutely staff is shared, resources shared, and also with other stations around the country.” – Associate Professor Mike Igoe
“Due to all the media acquisitions in recent years, it seems I am updating that topic almost every semester,” Igoe noted.
A consolidation of these media outlets will impact local news coverage in western New York, Igoe believes, with layoffs and cutbacks likely possibilities as local news staffs are merged.
“We’ve seen that already in other parts of the country, as shared newscasts are done all the time,” said Igoe, who spent 30 years in the television news, including 20 years as a consumer reporter in Buffalo, NY, with Channel 2 (WGRZ) before joining the SUNY Fredonia Department of Communication.
“It depends on what the network affiliation is, but absolutely staff is shared, resources shared, and also with other stations around the country,” said Igoe, a member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
“Ironically, all the markets (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; and Buffalo) I’ve worked in are affected by the Nexstar acquisition of Tegna,” Igoe reflected. “I believe the deal will be approved by the Trump Administration’s FCC [Federal Communications Commission]. We shall see.”
Nexstar Media Group owns Channel 4 (WIVB, a CBS-affiliated station) and Channel 23 (WNLO, a CW affiliate), while Tegna has Channel 2, (WGRZ, an NBC affiliate), where Igoe worked. If approved by the FCC, Nexstar’s position as the largest owner of local television stations in the U.S. would be solidified.
