IRVING, TEXAS: Regulators have approved Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s purchase of WCWJ-TV, the CW affiliate in Jacksonville, Fla., from Media General. The acquisition rounds out Nexstar’s collection of owned and/or operated stations at 63. WCWJ is the first station Nexstar will own in Florida, though it operates WTVX-TV in West Palm Beach for Four Points Media.
“We expect station operating results to benefit from the addition to Nexstar’s retransmission consent agreements and the launch of Nexstar’s differentiated, proven e-Media offerings,” Nexstar chief Perry A. Sook said, referring to the company’s Web operations. “Pro forma for our planned operational and financial changes, we expect the acquisition to be immediately deleveraging and accretive to Nexstar’s operating results.”
Nexstar recently announced an agreement to manage seven stations owned by Four Points, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, for $2 million a year plus incentive based on cash flow. Its October 2008 acquisition of KARZ-TV (formerly KWBF-TV) in Little Rock, Ark., was approved in February. Nexstar bought that station, an NBC affiliate, for $4 million from Equity Media, which has since declared bankruptcy.
Nexstar’s 63 television stations cover 34 markets throughout Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, New York and Florida. Shares were trading mid-day at around 75 cents. -- Deborah D. McAdams
