Nexstar Broadcasting Group

Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said that retrans drove its 4Q and full-year financials, surpassing local advertising as the company’s top revenue stream. “We think the value proposition of our local content is equal to, and perhaps greater than, the value contribution from marquee network content,” Sook said.

It says the addition of the digital video advertising infrastructure platform will be immediately accretive and “substantially broadens and diversifies Nexstar Digital’s portfolio with industry-leading, brand safe systems and technologies.”

When the lack of Olympics is factored in the 3Q calculations, core grew 2%. And Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said fourth quarter sales are pacing in the mid-single digits with strength in most categories.

The record boost to $612 million is driven by increased local and national advertising, retransmission and digital revenue that include contributions from the former Media General stations.

Nexstar gets its new Las Vegas GSM from KOIN Portland, Ore., where he’s been national sales manager since 2015.

The record boost to $626 million is driven by increased advertising and retransmission revenue and contributions from the former Media General stations..

2016 Spot Revenue: $1.429 billion Stations: 171 in 100 markets Coverage: 39.2% Ownership: Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) Key Executives: Perry A. Sook, chairman-president-CEO; Timothy Busch, president, Nexstar Broadcasting; Brian […]

Net revenue growth of 111% following the Media General merger boosts revenue to $540 million, driving record operating income of $110.1 million. All of the company’s revenue areas are up, except political.

The $4.6 billion deal will leave the resulting Nexstar Media Group with171 full-power stations in 100 markers covering nearly 39% of U.S. TV homes.

Nexstar’s Las Vegas CBS affiliate’s New Year’s Eve special, Countdown to 2017, will originate at the Hard Rock Café, and will feature live reports from other locations throughout Las Vegas. The three-and-a-half hour program will also air on 11 other Nexstar stations in the western half of the U.S.

Mediacom Communications announced it has reached a new carriage agreement with Nexstar Broadcasting Group. The deal gives Mediacom retransmission consent rights to Nexstar stations located within the company’s national footprint. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mediacom is the fifth largest cable operator in the U.S. serving more than 1.3 million customers.

The former KSAZ-KUTP Phoenix sales executive is moving across town to run Nexstar’s CW affiliate.

3Q core advertising was bolstered by flat-to-positive growth in four of its top six categories, said CEO Perry Sook. He added: “Year-to-date … we have well-exceeded our guidance of $100 million in full-year political revenue” ($50 million of that will be attributed to 4Q). Wells Fargo Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker was not only on the same page as Sook regarding the meeting of political guidance, she said the feat was the high note of the quarter for the group.

CEO Perry Sook attributes the record results to “solid core revenue growth, our ability to maximize the Olympic and political revenue opportunities, growing retransmission consent revenues, impressive digital growth and the ongoing benefits of our results-focused operating disciplines.” The big driver was political of $25.5 million, plus a 23% gain in retrans revenue and $29 million in digital.

While many publicly traded station groups have taken a very distinct path toward their digital media investments, one common denominator is forging relationships with third-party aggregators as well as search engine marketing and search engine optimization partners. Here’s how six station groups are taking advantage of their unique strengths to scale their offerings and maintain their leadership positions in digital.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, Nov. 18, to shareholders of record on Friday, Nov. 4.

The NAB tells the FCC that the “merits of the proposed transaction have been thoroughly and comprehensively argued before the FCC, and the Department of Justice has blessed the merger. There is no good reason for further delay.”

Nexstar Broadcasting Group has already has taken orders for more than two thirds of its 2016 political ad spending target, CEO Perry Sook said on Wednesday, but he stopped short of raising the goal. The company planned to tell investors at an investment conference later in the day that it was standing by the target for $100 million in political revenue for the year.

One highlight of TVNewsCheck’s Nov. 9-10 TV2020 conference on the prospects for Next Gen TV will be the CEO panel featuring David Smith of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Perry Sook of Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Pat LaPlatney of Raycom Media.

The Justice Department says Nexstar must sell seven stations in six markets to buyers vetted by Justice as a condition of approving the $4.6 billion Media General acquisition.

The Media General-owned NBC affiliate in Dayton, Ohio, is focused on providing the best newscasts possible. GM Joseph Abouzeid: “We’re going to ask the tough questions. We want to prove the newscasts are relevant to viewers’ lives. We’re going to be the voice for the viewer who doesn’t have a voice.”

The broadcast group’s executives say that sales of stations in the upcoming incentive auction could result in a decrease in the company’s national coverage, which is now just under the FCC’s 39% cap. Any income from the auction will “turbo-charge our debt reduction and our leverage reduction,” said CFO Tom Carter: He added: “If we sold spectrum and exited markets … then we would have the opportunity to enter into accretive new market M&A.”

CEO Perry Sook attributes the overall revenue gain to 7.5% year-over-year growth in TV ad revenue along with a 41% gain in retrans fees and a 17% rise in digital. Core national and local TV ad spending was flat.

It said it intends to use the net proceeds from the proposed offering to fund its proposed acquisition of Media Genera.

Stock prices of six publicly-traded TV station groups had a rocky first half due to concerns over leverage as well as political, automotive and overall sustainability of the television business model. The companies bounced back a bit in the second quarter, but were still well below where they were on Jan. 1. Analysts, however, see signs for optimism.

An analysis of station trading shows the majority of second quarter deals were the result of spinoffs from Nexstar’s acquisition of Media General.

The proposed next-gen TV standard is endorsed by Wells Fargo securities analyst Marci Ryvicker and her S&P Global panelists: Sinclair’s David Amy and Nexstar’s Perry Sook. Said Ryvicker: “For me, I only see it as a good thing. I can’t put a cash flow on it. I can’t put a multiple on it. I just know it’s better than staying at 1.0.”  Amy: “It will forever change the way viewers consume our product.” Sook said he was especially interested in the potential for datacasting.

The expansion comes from multi-year deals for Bounce TV, Escape, Grit and Laff with Nexstar, Mission and White Knight.

With backing from an Atlanta private equity firm, former Gray exec Bob Prather agrees to pay $115 million for five small-market network affils: Nexstar’s WFFT Ft. Wayne, Ind. (Fox, DMA 111) and KQTV St. Joseph, Mo. (ABC, DMA 201), and Media General’s KIMT Rochester, Minn.; (CBS, DMA 153), WTHI Terra Haute, Ind. (CBS, DMA 155); and WLFI Lafayette, Ind. (CBS, DMA 187).

Upon completion of the transaction, expected later this year, Nexstar will change its name to Nexstar Media Group Inc.

It is acquiring ABC affiliate WBAY Green Bay, Wis., and NBC affil KWQC Davenport, Iowa, both currently owned and operated by Media General that are being divested as part of the Nexstar-Media General merger.

3. NEXSTAR BROADCASTING GROUP, Dallas 2015 Spot Revenue: $1.421 billion  Stations: 171 in 100 markets  Coverage: 39%  Ownership: Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST)  Key Executives: Perry A. Sook, chairman-president-CEO; Timothy Busch, EVP/co-COO; Brian Jones, […]

The divestitures are designed to comply with FCC ownership caps as Nexstar’s acquisition of Media General awaits commission approval. The stations are WCWJ Jacksonville, Fla.; WSLS Roanoke, Va.; KADN and KLAF-LD Lafayette, La.; and KREG Denver.

The broadcast group’s executives say its prospects going forward are bright with political ad revenue continuing to roll in. Retrans remains strong and the assimilation of Media General’s stations is on track to close this year. Speaking generally about the upcoming spectrum auction, CEO Perry Sook said deciding whether to sell could involve such things as clearing space under the FCC national ownership cap.

CEO Perry Sook attributes the gains to “advertising strength in key categories complemented by our ability to monetize the Super Bowl through coordinated multiplatform revenue initiatives; political advertising spending which exceeded our expectations; continued robust retransmission fee growth; and, another quarter of double-digit digital media growth.”

Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, May 27, to shareholders of record on Friday, May 13.