Nexstar Broadcasting Group

“We wouldn’t do a transaction just for scale’s sake,” CEO Perry Sook told analysts this morning.”But if the transaction was beneficial to Nexstar shareholders and a side-effect was more scale, we would be very interested in that.” Some small deals are already in the pipeline, he said. In addition, digital deals are an increasing focus as growth in digital revenue far outstrips that of broadcasting.

The TV station group’s strong fourth quarter television ad revenue growth was complemented by a 64.6% rise in retransmission fee revenue and a 114.9% increase in digital media revenue.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group has bought Yashi Inc., an online video demand side platform. The $33 million deal puts Nexstar in control of Yashi’s location-based targeting and programmatic technology and services for the online video advertising industry.

The TV station group declares a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share.

Perry Sook will continue as president-CEO of the television station group he founded in 1996 through January 2019 with this new contract.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that it intends to offer, subject to market and other customary conditions, $250 million in new senior notes due 2022 in a private offering. Nexstar said it intends to use the proceeds to fund the proposed acquisitions of three television stations in three markets from Landmark Television and Landmark Media Enterprises; Meredith Corp. and Sagamore Hill; and Pappas Telecasting, to pay related fees and expenses and for general corporate purposes.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced Thursday that it signed a new distribution agreement with Charter Communications before the expiration of the prior contract at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 31, enabling Charter subscribers in 15 markets to enjoy uninterrupted access to network, local news and other programming.

Negotiations have slowed between Satview Broadband Ltd, which provides cable, Internet and phone services to parts of Northern Nevada, and Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns ABC affiliate KTVX and CW affil KUCW. The two parties face a Dec. 31 deadline.

You’ll see new anchors, a new set and a new slogan when you tune into ABC affiliate WOI Des Moines, Iowa, next month. The revamped broadcast is the result of a promise from new owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group to invest in the station, which has consistently finished a distant third in the ratings behind KCCI and WHO.

The new agreement extends deals for the 16 NBC affiliates owned or operated by Nexstar.

It agrees to continue negotiating a new distribution agreement with the satellite service covering its 60 stations until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Sixty stations are potentially affected as the station group and satellite distributor have yet to reach a new distribution agreement.

The purchase of the CBS affiliate from Landmark Media Enterprises will boost Nexstar’s holdings to 110 stations with coverage of 18% of U.S. TV households.

The boost to $154.7 million is driven by increases in every area except national, with big percentage gains from political, digital and retrans.

It took over a year, but the agency finally approved Nexstar’s $87.5 million acquisition of seven Grant stations with one being spun off to minority-owned Marshall Broadcasting. Marshall will own and operate KLJB Quad Cities-Davenport, Iowa, with the help of sales and shared services agreements with Nexstar.

The deal for the CW affiliate is a result of Meredith agreeing to spin off the station after buying it along with KTVK from Gannett in June.

An analysis from Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker says that Sinclair, Nexstar and Media General have the highest median spectrum values as a percentage of enterprise value at 52%, 49% and 27%, respectively.

The record revenue of $146.9 million is driven by increases in every area except national, with big percentage gains from political, digital and retrans.

The CBS affiliate in Evansville, Ind., is being purchased by minority-led Bayou City Broadcasting Evansville. The sale brings Nexstar’s Communications Corp. of America station purchases into compliance with DOJ criteria.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group today elected C. Thomas McMillen to serve on its board of directors, to replace Royce Yudkoff who has resigned his position on the board. McMillen has more […]

Spun off from Gray’s purchase of Hoak Media, the three stations and two satellites are the group’s first in Panama City, Fla., and Grand Junction, Colo. Nexstar got them for $33.5 million.

Minority-owned Marshall Broadcasting Group, headed by Pluria Marshall, will launch new local news and sports programming at the Fox affiliates in Shreveport, La.; Odessa-Midland, Texas; and KLJB Quad Cities, Iowa, as well as minority oriented public affairs programming.

CEO Perry Sook says the addition of the cloud-based CMS services company is part of Nexstar’s “plan to strategically invest in and expand our digital media portfolio to serve a broad range of businesses and needs.”

One of two local content directors at the station group, Jerry Walsh has been actively involved in Nexstar’s $78 million news expansion and improvement push. While there are advantages to having the deep pockets of a large company — resources and station collaboration, among them — he says it’s vital to think local and realize that no two newsrooms are alike. (To read NetNewsCheck’s Monday interview with Nexstar’s chief digital officer, Thomas O’Brien, click here.)

Nexstar Broadcasting is working on a new platform aimed at boosting video views across all 45 of its local websites. Other priorities, according to Thomas O’Brien, EVP of digital media and chief revenue officer, include capitalizing on an increasingly mobile online audience and building a digital agency business with the help of newly acquired Internet Broadcasting Systems.

Record core TV advertising, political and retransmission revenue drives record 1Q operating income of $27.7 million.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s board of directors today declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, May 30, to shareholders of record on Friday, May 16.

Patrick J. Cusick becomes VP, controller and D. Randall Bradford is now VP of financial operations.

The television station group is paying $20 million to acquire the digital services provider. Its products include websites, a digital publishing platform, original and syndicated content, as well as one of the largest digital advertising agencies.

Former news director Christopher Berg will to lead cross-platform content development in Nexstar’s West region markets. Jerry Walsh has the same responsibilities for the company’s Eastern markets.

WROC sports anchor John Kucko not only covers the big games for his Rochester, N.Y. CBS affiliate, he’s the go-to guy for many of parent Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s other stations across the country. For the Super Bowl this year he gave the 26 other stations something extra and cutting edge: views of the event through the new Google Glass technology.

It will pay out $0.15 per share on Feb. 28. CEO Perry Sook says: “The dividend increase highlights our commitment to deliver value to our shareholders while leaving the company with sufficient liquidity to meaningfully reduce leverage, consider additional accretive station acquisitions and undertake other initiatives to enhance long-term shareholder value.”

CEO Perry Sook says the new Irving, Texas, corporate offices “provide Nexstar with economic and operational benefits as well as capacity for continued growth as we seek to further expand our local marketing solutions platform of leading broadcast and digital media assets.”

The cable operator and trade group ask the FCC to reject Mission’s $15.25 million purchase of Stainless Broadcasting’s two Binghamton, N.Y., stations, claiming that Nexstar Broadcasting will end up with “de facto control over three of the Big Four broadcast signals and four of the six national broadcast network affiliates” in the market.

The price tag for seven Fox and CW affiliates in four markets — Roanoke, Huntsville, Quad Cities and La Crosse — represents a buyer’s muliple of just 5X, says Nexstar. With the deal, Nexstar’s portfolio swells to 102 stations in 54 markets reaching approximately 15.5% of all U.S. TV homes.

The expanding group’s core revenue growth of 44% was supplemented by a 69.4% rise in retrans as well as a 124% jump in digital media revenue.

He will oversee Nexstar markets in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Indiana, Alabama and Maryland with have direct responsibility for those markets’ general managers,

It intends to fund yesterday’s announced purchase of five stations from Citadel Communications and Stainless Broadcasting and to repurchase outstanding 8.875% senior secured second lien notes due in 2017.

Nexstar will acquire WOI Des Moines, Iowa; WHBF Rock Island, Ill., and KCAU Sioux City, Iowa, from Citadel Communications for $88 million and will operate them under a time brokerage agreement. Mission is buying WICZ and WBNP-LP Binghamton, N.Y., from Stainless Broadcasting for $15.25 million in a transaction structured as an asset purchase agreement.

“The acquisitions we have pending would get into the relatively low nine-figure amount,” the Nexstar CEO told analysts today. One of those pending deals may be for Granite Broadcasting Corp.’s 10 stations, which include an independent in San Francisco (DMA 6) and an unaffiliated in Detroit (DMA 11).