Nexstar Gives Memphis A Complete Overhaul
After it bought the market’s ABC affiliate WPTY, Nexstar brought in Ardy Diercks as GM with the mandate to change everything. She did, starting with new call letters, WATN, a new brand, a new building, a new news set and different graphics and music to complement it all. Oh, and a new news director, Lisa Lovell, charged with shifting the emphasis toward investigative reporting, health lifestyle and more local coverage. Here’s how the whole package is being presented.
Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, Aug. 30, to shareholders of record on Friday, Aug. 16.
With new mega-media deals being announced every few weeks, TVNewsCheck‘s Price Colman speculates on how a combination of those two big players might come about and what it could look like.
As one industry observer puts it: “If you’re not looking to merge or acquire, you’re a bonehead dinosaur. Everybody should be on the block. If you bought assets to eventually sell, now is the time to sell.” Among the station groups in play are Local TV LLC/FoxCo’s 21 stations; Allbritton; Grant Communications; and Granite Broadcasting. Possible buyers include Sinclair, Nexstar, Fox, Raycom, LIN and ABC.
The broadcaster will roll out the Syndicaster platform for online video at its 61 television station in 41 markets. The move is a sign that Nexstar plans to be more aggressive with digital video. “They’re looking at live streaming original content that they’re not putting on TV,” says Ion Puspurica of Critical Media.
For 60 years, KSEE and KGPE have competed inFresno, Calif. Now, after a pair of deals by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, the two TV stations have one owner and, by fall, will work under one roof. Construction work will soon begin at the KSEE facility to build new sets — equipped with high-definition equipment — for both stations.
Exclusives
Sook: Algorithms Can’t Serve Local Markets
Perry Sook, chairman and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, told attendees at the Media Financial Management Association’s conference in New Orleans today that local media companies’ local nature is their greatest weapon in their battle against the Googles and Yahoos of the world. “Local markets cannot be effectively served by an algorithm,” he says.
The station group plans to open a 27,000-square-foot broadcasting and news facility on June 1, which will broadcast WPTY-WLMT Memphis and WJKT Jackson, Tenn., in high definition.
Perry Sook, founder, chairman, president and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group will deliver a keynote address at Media Finance Focus 2013, the 53rd annual conference of the Media Financial Management […]
The $270 million deal comprises the 19 stations of Communications Corp. of America and White Knight Broadcasting. Nexstar gets 11, Mission gets eight.
Nexstar Goes With JVC Cams At KFDX-KJTL
The broadcaster is replacing Panasonic P2 shoulder-mount cameras at its Wichita Falls, Texas-Lawton, Okla., duopoly of KFDX-KJTL with JVC GY-HM650 ProHD camcorders.
Nexstar Goes With JVC for ENG Cameras
Nexstar Broadcasting Group has deployed 10 JVC GY-HM650 ProHD mobile news cameras for its NBC affiliate KFDX and Fox affiliate KJTL, a duopoly that serves Wichita Falls, Texas, and Lawton, […]
It’s signed a letter of intent and is conducting due diligence on CCA properties encompassing 12 stations in smaller markets. The deal would boost Nexstar’s portfolio to about 84 stations. In other TV group news, Local TV LLC has put itself up for sale.
He will be responsible for overseeing Nexstar’s engineering operations, information technology infrastructure, as well as the integration of Inergize Digital Media into the company’s technology platform.
Nexstar Rev. Climbs 35% In 4Q, 24% For Year
The group’s core fourth quarter revenue growth of 8.8% benefited from a 12% rise in auto advertising and was complemented by a 55.9% rise in retransmission fee revenue and 24.9% increase in digital revenue.
Nexstar, Mission Complete Burlington Buy
The $16.9 million purchase of WFFF and WVNY announced last year has closed.
The Nexstar independent station — and the market’s former Fox affil — is back as the market’s Fox home on March 1. The move comes following a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit between Nexstar and Granite Broadcasting, owner of NBC affil WISE, which has been carrying Fox on a subchannel since 2011.
It’s buying the NBC affiliate from Granite Broadcasting and will run it under a TBA while awaiting FCC approval. Nexstar already owns the market’s CBS affiliate, KGPE.
Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that it has authorized the initiation of a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.12 per share of its Class A and Class B common stock. […]
The $60 million purchase of KLRT and KASN is completed and management of the Fox and CW affiliates is being overseen by Nexstar Broadcasting through an outsourcing agreement.
The new owner of KTVX (ABC) and KUCW (CW) is making significant cuts to the staff of the Salt Lake City duopoly. Brian Jones, co-COO and EVP of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, didn’t provide specifics about which staff members or how many were laid off, except to confirm that he will be hiring a new station manager to replace Matt Jaquint.
Multiple sources say Barrington Broadcasting’s 24 stations in 15 markets are for sale and that Sinclair and Nexstar are finalists among the bidders.
Nexstar Still On The Hunt For Acquisitions
After announcing yesterday that his company is adding five stations to its portfolio, Nexstar President Perry Sook today said that having recently refinanced its balance sheet with both a new senior loan package and a bond sale, the company now enjoys a lower cost of capital and additional flexibility. “Which allows us to more efficiently look at acquiring other stations in similarly accretive transactions,” he told analysts.
Nexstar 3Q Revenue Climbs 20.2%
Political revenue of $10.5 million and solid increases in core local and national ad dollars plus a 54% gain in retans pushes net revenue to almost $90 million.
New agreements extend the affiliations for nine of the 11 CBS affiliates that Nexstar owns or operates. The agreements are good through the end of 2018.
Nexstar 2Q Rev Up 17.7% To Record $89M
Net revenue growth drives record 2Q operating income of $23.5 million, adjusted EBITDA of $34.5 million, and free cash flow of $19.3 million. Double-digit gains in political and retrans help power the results.
Stations, Buyers Adjust To A Reset Ft. Wayne
The fallout from the year-ago upheaval in affiliations in the 109th TV market depends on whom you talk to. NBC affil WISE is thrilled with the increase in sports programming it’s gotten from adding Fox on a subchannel, while WFFT, now an independent, says its Rentrak numbers are strong and tracking up. But Nielsen numbers and local ad buyers paint a somewhat different story.
Providence Equity Partners LLC is close to a deal to sell the bulk of its portfolio of Newport Television stations to three broadcasting companies for a total of just over $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. Nexstar plans to buy the bulk of the 24 stations.
The retrans standoff between Hearst Television and Time Warner Cable is about to become a three-way fight over the out-of-market TV stations TWC is importing to replace some of the Hearst stations it was forced to black out. TWC picked up three stations owned by Nexstar Broadcasting and Nexstar doesn’t like it.
Nexstar 1Q Rev Up 19.6% To Record $83.6M
Record core TV advertising, e-Media and retransmission revenue drives record first quarter operating income of $17.5 million and free cash of $12.7 million.
Nexstar Launches Statewide Ark. Newscast
News teams from the company’s NBC Affiliates in Little Rock, Fayetteville, El Dorado and Texarkana collaborate to bring viewers local news, weather, sports, health and lifestyle programming weekdays at noon.
Nexstar Posts 6.4% Gain In 4Q Core Revenue
Increases in local, national and retrans money push non-political revenue to $67.3 million.
The former GM of Four Points stations in West Palm Beach is succeeding the retiring Mike Smith as head of WEHT and WTVW.
There’s been no public movement on Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s effort to sell itself, but Standard & Poor’s says the TV company will remain on its CreditWatch list. S&P said: “We believe that a sale of the company, if pursued, could re-leverage the balance sheet and cause deterioration in Nexstar’s financial risk profile, especially if the new owner is a financial investor.”
Nexstar moves him from head of its Amarillo, Texas trio to run its Louisiana NBC affiliate.
Nexstar Names Robert Bee WBRE-WYOU GM
The Pennsylvania broadcast veteran will lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., NBC-CBS duopoly and their associated e-media and digital operations.
The 30-year broadcasting veteran will oversee strategic sales planning and execution regionally and company-wide.
Good 3Q For Nexstar: Revenue Rises 2.3%
Strong increases in local and national core revenue as well as retrans and e-Media money overcame the loss of political ad revenue compared to last year’s quarter.
Former news director-photojournalist-producer Jerry Walsh is charged with creating cross-platform content for the group’s stations, 35 community websites and mobile applications.-
WFXW, the Mission-owned, Nexstar-run Terre Haute, Ind., former Fox affiliate, becomes WAWV and brings ABC back to the market after 16 years on Sept. 1.
