Nexstar CEO: big tech swallowed local newspapers. Local TV could be next – Fortune

For decades, outdated rules and regulations have constrained the ability of local television broadcasters — the providers of local news, the most trusted information available to Americans — to compete, grow, and invest in their own future. During that same time, a handful of Big Tech platforms have amassed unprecedented economic power, each one dwarfing all of traditional media and dramatically reshaping how Americans consume news and information. Companies like Google/YouTube, TikTok, Amazon, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, and Netflix now reach virtually every screen in every home and every device in every pocket. Their scale is staggering. Today, YouTube accounts for one-eighth of all television viewing in the United States. One in four young adults report getting their news from TikTok. The advertising numbers are just as stark: according to S&P Global/Kagan, YouTube alone billed more in video advertising last year than all of broadcast television combined. In 2026, one Wall Street analyst predicts that just five digital entities — Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and TikTok — will control 65% of the advertising market, worth $260 billion.  These companies are not built to prioritize fact-based journalism or civic discourse. Their business model rewards clicks, not accuracy or accountability. While their content
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