Nexstar

The Wall Street Journal reports that activist investor Starboard Value LP on Tuesday said Media General was dragging its feet in agreeing to negotiations with Nexstar Broadcasting Group and exploring a merger of the two TV station companies. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

Meredith said it believes due diligence will show the inferiority of Nexstar’s unsolicited offer for Media General. Meredith said it is “extremely confident that Meredith Media General has the potential to generate significant shareholder returns superior to Nexstar’s offer for Media General.”

The FCC ownership regulations have shaped (warped?) today’s broadcasting business in many ways and determined what kind of station deals can and cannot be done. For example, the 39% cap means many large groups can’t merge because they are at or near the limit. But it so complicates their ability to exit the business.

Nexstar Broadcasting Corp has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Communications Corp of America on condition that it sell WEVV Evansville, Ind., the Department of Justice said Wednesday. Nexstar said in early August that it was selling WEVV to Bayou City Broadcasting for $18.6 million.

In urging the FCC to OK the proposed JSA waivers involving Nexstar and Marshall Broadcasting, the group wants the FCC to subject approval of the deal to annual reporting requirements as well as other conditions. The critical question for NABOB, for this deal and any others, according to the association’s filing: “Is this transaction designed to produce a free-standing, independent broadcast operation at the conclusion of the JSA agreement?”

The group owner’s CEO tells analysts and investors that “if the No. 1 and No. 2 cable entities can merge … why can’t we own and sell inventory of two television stations in Abilene, Texas?” He also says his company has more M&A in the works.

The expanding group’s core revenue growth of 47% in the quarter was supplemented by a 67% rise in retrans as well as a 24% jump in digital media revenue.

As broadcasters and Aereo wait to see if the Supreme Court will agree to the former’s recent petition to hear the case against the latter, the Barry Diller-backed streaming service has been sued a second time this week in the state of Utah. And today ABC and CW affiliates owner Nexstar Communications filed a motion for a preliminary injunction (read it here) to shut Aereo down during the course of the litigation from the copyright infringement complaint it filed on Thursday.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.12 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Monday, Dec. 2, to shareholders of record on Friday, Nov. 15. The company said that while it intends to pay regular quarterly cash dividends for the foreseeable future, all subsequent dividends will be reviewed quarterly and declared by the board of directors at its discretion.

Local newspapers and broadcasters today are seeking content management systems that are faster and more complex than ever before. And while vendors are constantly developing new products to keep up with evolving demands, the industry is facing contraction. “There are just too many players, and nobody is really big enough to have any control,” says Internet Broadcasting’s Elmer Baldwin. “There are some that just aren’t going to survive.” Part two of a three-part special report. Read part one here

Boosted by new station acquisitions, the group’s core first quarter revenue growth of 38.4% was supplemented by a 65.5% rise in retrans as well as a 65.5% jump in e-media revenue.

Serial acquirer Nexstar Broadcasting Group is in talks with several companies to buy TV stations and could spend up to $650 million on acquisitions over the next two years, according to CEO Perry Sook. He said  some stations run by Local TV LLC could fit the bill, but declined to say whether his company was in talks with owner Oak Hill Capital Partners.

The group’s core first quarter revenue growth of 32.6% was supplemented by a 64.2% rise in retrans as well as a 57.3% jump in e-media revenue.

Mark Arminio to lead sales efforts for Nexstar’s WPTY (ABC), WLMT (CW) and WJKT (Fox) and the stations’ associated digital services.

It completes the $35.4 million buy of KGPE Fresno, Calif., and KGET and KKEY-LP Bakersfield, Calif.

Nexstar Broadcasting fails to convince a Texas  judge that its carriage agreement with Time Warner Cable prevents the cable operator from importing its signals into other markets as replacement signals during retrans disputes.

CEO Perry Sook says that while it will continue to look for acquisitions that make sense, it is also “engaged in discussions to sell some of our smaller, non-strategic assets and believe that can be done at accretive multiples to the company as well.”

Nexstar has received a waiver from the FCC that allows its NBC affiliate WHAG Hagerstown, Md., to avoid making political ad-spending information available online starting Thursday. The FCC agreed with Nexstar’s arguement that while the station is considered part of the Washington market, it should be considered a small-market station for purposes of the new FCC rule. The waiver exempts WHAG until 2014.

Children’s health and developmental content will be featured on the group’s 31 community portals.

Steve Shanks will Lead Sales Efforts at CBS Affiliates WFRV Green Bay, Wis., WJMN Marquette, Mich., and the stations’ websites.

The Nexstar CEO tells analysts the third quarter looks good for auto advertising, continuing growth in mobile and Internet-based revenues. He also says retrans negotiations are underway with Fox and NBC and “no network … has asked for more than 50%.”

Nexstar plans to launch local news at WJMN Marquette, Mich., after the group closes on its acquisition of it and WFRV Green Bay, Wis., from Liberty Media, says President-CEO Perry Sook.

The strong fourth-quarter results marked the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth for the seven pure-play broadcasting companies and eight integrated media companies tracked by the investment bank M.C. Alcamo & Co.

The rise to $97 million was driven by a 515% rise in political ad money plus strong retrans. E-media and local revenue contributions.

KARK, Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s NBC affiliate in Little Rock, Ark. (DMA 56), has purchased three GY-HM790U ProHD cameras from JVC Professional Products Co. for production of its local newscasts. The […]

The broadcaster joins Nexstar in asking the commission to forbid Time Warner Cable from using United’s Fox affiliate WNYF-CA Watertown, N.Y. as substitute network programming in the cable operator’s retransmission consent battle with Smith Media in Burlington, Vt.-Plattaburgh, N.Y.

The broadcaster wants the commission to forbid Time Warner Cable from using its stations as substitute network programming in the cable operator’s retransmission consent battle with Smith Media.

Rentrak Corp. today announced deals to provide audience viewership, segmentation and purchaser metrics via its StationView Essentials service to Nexstar Broadcasting’s Rochester, N.Y. (DMA 80), stations WROC (CBS) and WUHF […]

As the pioneer in seeking retransmission consent cash from cable systems, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook talked about the future of retrans at  Wells Fargo Securities’ Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

Nexstar CEO Perry Sook says that the new Congress will likely leave broadcasting alone as it tackles issues other than retransmission consent and spectrum reallocation. Broadcasters, he says, should concentrate on developing mobile, a business that he says “may dwarf everything.”

Double-digit increases in core local and national revenue push the broadcaster’s revenue to $73.1 million, led by auto, political and retransmission consent dollars.