Once it swallows up Tegan, Nexstar will own 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Nexstar had previously acquired the two Hartford-based television stations from Tribune Broadcasting in 2019, but then sold the two media outlets to Tegna as part of a divestiture that allowed that deal to move forward and make it compliant with local and national television ownership rules.

Irving-based Nexstar Media has agreed to buy smaller rival Tegna for $3.54 billion, creating a local-TV powerhouse that seeks to compete better with big