Outlet profile

WREG

U.S. center — local commercial broadcast

Owned byNexstar Media Group, a publicly traded broadcasting company headquartered in Irving, Texas, which owns over 200 local TV stations nationwide. Nexstar acquired WREG in 2019 through its purchase of Tribune Broadcasting.

FundingPrimarily advertising revenue; commercial broadcast model typical of local network affiliates

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

WREG traces its origins to January 1, 1956, when it launched as WREC-TV, named after founder Hoyt Wooten's Wooten Radio-Electric Company, which also operated WREC radio. Wooten sold the station to Des Moines-based Cowles Communications in 1963. The New York Times Company purchased it from Cowles in 1971, making it the Times' first-ever television station. Under Times ownership, the station moved into new studio facilities and rebranded as WREG-TV on March 2, 1975. The New York Times Company exited broadcasting entirely in 2007, selling its nine-station group — including WREG — to Local TV LLC. Tribune Broadcasting acquired Local TV in 2013, and Nexstar Media Group absorbed Tribune in 2019, giving Nexstar ownership of WREG. Media Bias/Fact Check rates the station 'Least Biased,' and Ground News assigns it a Center rating, consistent with its focus on local Memphis news rather than national political commentary. Nexstar's corporate political giving has shifted between parties over election cycles, reflecting a commercial rather than ideological orientation.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-09-03; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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