In 2017, Sinclair attempted to acquire Tribune Media. The acquisition collapsed in August 2018, after which Tribune was instead acquired by Nexstar. Tribune had previously filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Sinclair, which Sinclair and Nexstar—as successor-in-interest to Tribune—settled on January 28, 2020.
As part of the settlement, Sinclair paid Nexstar $60 million and sold WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, and the non-license and programming assets of KGBT-TV to Nexstar.[17] KGBT-TV's CBS affiliation, news department, and syndicated programming moved to KVEO's second subchannel the next day. On-air operations mostly remained unchanged, though viewers were asked to rescan their sets in order to continue watching CBS. However, few viewers actually lost access to CBS programming due to the high penetration of cable and satellite in the market.
The KGBT-TV license itself continued to be owned by Sinclair and continued to broadcast its existing digital multicast offerings, with the main 4.1 subchannel silent on the multiplex. The acquisition of the KGBT-TV intellectual unit also allowed Nexstar to move all of KVEO-TV's operations to the KGBT-TV facility in Harlingen and replace the local newscasts it had offered on that station, presented from El Paso, with a news service fully produced locally.
In May 2021, Mission Broadcasting, a company whose stations contract with Nexstar for operational services, acquired KGBT-TV; Nexstar then announced on July 19 of that year that it would purchase the station outright.[18][19] The deal was completed on September 15.[20] Nexstar immediately reactivated the main 4.1 subchannel to carry its Antenna TV network, which had never been carried in the market prior; MyNetworkTV, which had previously been on KFXV, was added to the subchannel on October 1.
The KGBT-TV tower in La Feria was brought down on March 8, 2024, after two of its 24 guy wires snapped, causing the mast to lean. The tower situation led to the evacuation of nearby homes as well as the cancellation of classes in the La Feria Independent School District.[21][22]
