Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced today that it is buying three CBS affiliates and one NBC affiliate in West Virginia from West Virginia Media Holdings for $130 million.
The stations:
WOWK (CBS) Charleston-Huntington (DMA 67)
WTRF (CBS) Wheeling (DMA 157) — WTRF’s D2 and D3 channels broadcast MyNetworkTV and ABC programming, respectively.
WVNS (CBS) Bluefield-Beckley (160) — WVNS’ D2 channel broadcasts Fox programming.
WBOY (NBC) Clarksburg-Weston (DMA 169) — WBOY’s D2 channel broadcasts ABC programming.
Nexstar said the proposed acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to its operating results.
Nexstar will enter into a time brokerage agreement with WVMH whereby it will receive the stations’ broadcast cash flow and pay an annual fee to WVMH. The TBA will extend until the broadcast assets and FCC licenses are transferred, which is expected to occur in late 2016. Nexstar intends to finance the transaction with cash generated from operations and borrowings under its senior credit facilities.
Upon closing this and other previously announced transactions, Nexstar’s portfolio of stations that it owns, operates, programs or to which it provides sales and other services, will increase to 115 television stations serving 62 markets in 25 states, reaching approximately 20.5 million television households or 18.1% of all U.S. television households.
Bray Cary, CEO of West Virginia Media Holdings,said: “Nexstar is an industry leader and the sale of WV Media stations to Nexstar will broaden and strengthen the West Virginia media network we started 14 years ago. With Nexstar's WHAG-TV (Hagerstown, Md.) station added to the list, the new network of stations will be able to provide all of our viewers coverage from West Virginia’s fastest growing area, the Eastern Panhandle.
“The additional non-stop news from the Eastern Panhandle and Washington, D.C., area will truly create the largest and only true statewide news and marketing network.”
