In this past Saturday’s special edition on the still-developing news that Nexstar is in talks to acquire the television stations of TEGNA, we initially noted that there weren’t many markets where Nexstar might have run afoul of the current FCC limitation on owning two or the “big four” network-affiliated stations. Our eagle-eyed readers quickly began pointing out that we had missed some obvious markets where our original observation was in error.

We had fully disclosed our somewhat impaired state at the original time of publication. We don’t make excuses for our errors. Even if we had a really good one, which we certainly did. But we don’t, so we hereby acknowledge our oversights. In this case, all 31 of them.

Now that we have had some additional time to recover, we can assure you that we have diligently compared both companies' portfolios and can accurately report all of the 30 markets where Nexstar’s current 201 stations will have duopolies when they add in the 64 stations that TEGNA currently has. In some markets, there could be “triopolies"—or perhaps even more?

Of course, as we have stated before, this amalgamation is still a theoretical one until there is an official announcement. And then there is the small matter of when the FCC will decide to announce its promised reform, rejection, or even retention of the agency’s television ownership rules. Surely someone in the commission has given Perry Sook & Company some assurance that by the time they are ready to close this multi-billion dollar transaction, there will be a more receptive environment than what the deal would face under the long-time rules from “a different era."

Here are the 31 current markets where a merged Nexstar and TEGNA station group would have overlaps between the so-called “big four” network affiliates. We’ve also noted the CW stations that will be included in those markets, as Nexstar owns that network as well. Other call letters are either affiliated with other networks or are independent. (And one more note--yes, we know some of the full market names are hyphenated with multiple cities, but we just used the first city to make this list fit a bit better on a page and be easier to read.)

Market Name.        Nexstar Owns/Operates          TEGNA Owns/Operates

Abilene, TX             KTAB (CBS) & KRBC (NBC)                  KXVA (FOX)

Austin, TX               KXAN, (NBC), KNVA (CW), KBVO       KVUE (ABC)

Charlotte, NC         WJZY (FOX) & WMYT                           WCNC (NBC)

Cleveland, OH       WJW (FOX) & WBNX                            WKYC (NBC)

Columbus, OH        WCMH (NBC)                                        WBNS (CBS)

Dallas, TX               KDAF (CW)                                             WFAA (ABC) & KFAA

Denver, CO             KDVR (FOX) & KWGN                           KUSA (ABC) & KTVD

Des Moines, IA       WHO (NBC)                                            WOI (ABC) & KCWI

Fort Smith, AR        KNWA (NBC), KFTA, KXNW                  KFSM (CBS)

Grand Rapids, MI   WOOD (NBC), WOTV (ABC), WXSP    WZZM (ABC)

Greensboro, NC     WGHP (FOX)                                          WFMY (CBS)

Hartford, CT           WTNH (ABC) & WCTX                           WTIC (FOX) & WCCT (CW)

Harrisburg, PA       WHTM (ABC)                                          WPMT (FOX)

Houston, TX           KIAH (CW)                                               KHOU (CBS) & KTBU 

Indianapolis, IN      WTTV (CBS), WXIN (CBS), WTTK     WTHR (NBC)

Knoxville, TN          WATE (ABC)                                            WBIR (NBC)

Little Rock, AR    KARK (NBC), KLRT (FOX), KASN (CW) KTHV (CBS)

Memphis, TN        WREG (CBS)                                           WATN (ABC) & WLMT (CW)

Midland, TX.          KMID (ABC) & KPEJ (FOX)                      KWES (NBC)

New Orleans, LA   WGNO (ABC) & WNOL (CW)                  WWL (CBS)

Norfolk, VA            WAVY (NBC) & WVBT (FOX)                  WVEC (ABC)

Phoenix, AZ           KAZT (CW)                                               KPNX (NBC)

Portland, OR         KOIN (CBS) & KRCW (CW)                     KGW (NBC)

Sacramento, CA   KTXL (FOX)                                              KXTV (ABC)

San Angelo, TX    KLST (CBS) & KSAN (NBC)                    KIDY (FOX)

San Diego, CA      KSWB (FOX) & KUSI                                KFMB (CBS)

St. Louis, MO        KTVI (FOX) & KPLR                                 KSDK (NBC)

Tampa, FL             WFLA (NBC), WTTA (CW), WSNN        WTSP (CBS)

Washington, DC   WDCW (CW) & WDVM                           WUSA (CBS)

Waco, TX               KWKT (FOX) & KYLE                               KCEN (NBC)

Wilkes-Barre, PA  WBRE (NBC) & WYOU (CBS)                 WNEP (ABC)

And that’s it. Just 31 markets where owning two of these stations was once unthinkable. Now, it seems like it won't be a big problem. And given the size of this would-be television group behemoth with 265 stations under its control, one starts to wonder if anyone would try to get bigger than 265 local stations under one roof.

But it is only Monday, and the week is still young. Who knows what might happen next?

One thing is for sure. We will definitely be drinking again. And long before this week is over.

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