Outlet profile

13News Now

U.S. local news, mostly neutral (owned by a right-leaning corporate parent)

Owned byWVEC-TV, branded 13News Now, is owned by TEGNA Inc., which itself became a subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group after Nexstar closed its $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA in March 2026 (though a federal court injunction from a multistate antitrust suit has since frozen integration of the two companies)

FundingCommercial advertising and retransmission-consent fees paid by cable/satellite/streaming providers, typical of a local network-affiliate television station

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The station first signed on September 19, 1953, as a UHF NBC affiliate under local owner Thomas P. Chisman; it moved to VHF channel 13 and switched to ABC in 1959. Ownership passed through Corinthian Broadcasting (a Dun & Bradstreet subsidiary) in 1980, then to Belo Corporation in 1984, which built it into a strong local news operation and later rebranded it 13News Now. Gannett Co. acquired Belo's stations in 2013, and when Gannett split its publishing and broadcasting arms in 2015, the station became part of the newly formed TEGNA Inc. In March 2026, Nexstar Media Group completed a $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA, making 13News Now part of the country's largest local-TV station group, though a preliminary injunction sought by DirecTV and eight state attorneys general has since paused integration of the two companies pending antitrust litigation. Like most local network affiliates, 13News Now's programming centers on local news, weather, and sports rather than national political commentary, and it has not been a focus of major bias studies the way cable news or Sinclair-owned stations have been. Its national and political coverage largely reflects ABC News wire content and TEGNA/Nexstar corporate feeds rather than a distinct in-house editorial slant.

Profile compiled 2026-09-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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