** Media company Tegna's TGNA.N shares rise 4.8% to $19.99 premarket
** U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday publicly backed a proposed merger between local television station operator Nexstar Media NXST.O and its smaller rival Tegna
** NXST last year proposed a $3.54 billion acquisition of Tegna that would make the combined entity the largest regional TV station operator in the U.S.
** TGNA rose ~6% last year
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru)
((Jaspreet.Singh@thomsonreuters.com ; https://twitter.com/i_jass))