IRVING, Texas (May 8, 2023) – Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), today announced that it has agreed to acquire the assets of KUSI-TV in San Diego from McKinnon Broadcasting Company and Channel 51 of San Diego for $35 million plus a customary working capital adjustment. KUSI-TV is an independent television station broadcasting more than nine hours of local news each weekday and nearly 60 hours of local news each week. Along with Nexstar’s currently owned and operated KWSB-TV (FOX) in San Diego, the two stations will offer more local news and information programming in the market than all other local stations combined, and will provide unprecedented coverage of breaking news, weather, sports and community stories in the nation’s 30th largest television market.
The planned acquisition of KUSI-TV strengthens Nexstar’s local television broadcast, news and digital media platforms in San Diego while providing numerous opportunities for operational efficiencies. The transaction, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals, is expected to close later this year and is expected to be accretive to Nexstar’s operating results when the CW Network affiliation becomes available to the market.
“KUSI-TV’s established local news operations serving viewers and advertisers in the San Diego community are a perfect fit with our station group and KSWB-TV’s existing San Diego operations,” said Tom Carter, president and chief operating officer of Nexstar. “Their mission to serve the community by providing the most local news in the market aligns with Nexstar’s commitment to providing consumers with extensive local content on linear and digital platforms.”
“In addition, the reach of Nexstar’s platform, the expansion of digital media revenue, the enterprise-wide commitment to unbiased news and reporting, the return of political advertising revenue in 2024, and our focus on balance sheet and shareholder returns will allow us to extend our track record of increasing shareholder value in the short and long term.”
Mike McKinnon, owner and CEO of KUSI-TV, commented, “I have known Perry Suk, Chairman and CEO of Nexstar, for over 30 years. He is a great operator who has built a tremendous organization. We have a great team of news people at KUSI-TV, and joining these two companies will create one of the most dynamic news organizations in all of Southern California.”
Kalil & Co. Inc. was the exclusive broker for McKinnon Broadcasting Company and KUSI-TV.
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About Nextstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across television, streaming and digital platforms, including nearly 300,000 hours of original video content each year. Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcast group of top network affiliates, with 200 owned or partner stations in 116 US markets reaching 212 million people. Nexstar’s national television properties include The CW, America’s fifth largest television network, NewsNation, America’s fastest growing national news and entertainment cable network reaching 70 million television homes, popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV and 31 .3% ownership share in TV Food Network. The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including The Hill and BestReviews, are collectively Top 10 digital news and information in the US. In addition to providing exceptional content and services to our communities, Nexstar provides premium multi-platform and video-on-demand advertising capabilities at scale for businesses and brands seeking to capitalize on strong consumer engagement from our compelling content. For more information, please visit Nexstar.tv.
Media contact:
Gary Wightman
EVP and Chief Communications Officer
Nextstar Media Group, Inc.
312/222-3394 or [email protected]
Investor contact:
Joe Gaffoni or Jennifer Neumann
JCIR
212/835-8500 or [email protected]
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