The owner of 65 stations in 36 markets joins McGraw-Hill, Freedom, and Young Broadcasting in the ranks of TV owners looking for buyers. Analysts say that Nexstar could fetch about $1B. Its stations reach 11.6% of all households, and include affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV, The CW, LATV, TV Azteca and Telemundo. Potential buyers may want in as stations prepare to collect potentially record breaking ad revenue from political candidates in 2012. But Fox recently yanked its affiliation agreements with Nexstar stations in Fort Wayne and Evansville, Indiana in disputes over how much revenue the network should collect from the retransmission consent payments that the stations receive from cable and satellite operators.

 

Irving, TX (July 21, 2011) – Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) announced today that its Board of Directors has decided to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives intended to maximize shareholder value, including a possible sale of the Company. The Company has retained Moelis & Company as its financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as its legal counsel.

The Company has not made a decision to pursue any specific strategic transaction or other strategic alternative and there is no set timetable for the process, so there can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in a sale of the Company or any other transaction. The Company does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the progress of its strategic review until such time as the Board has approved a transaction or otherwise deems disclosure appropriate.