Nexstar Media Group said it completed station deals with Fox Television Stations in which Nextar gets two stations in Charlotte and Fox gets operations in Seattle and Milwaukee.
The transactions leave Nexstar with after-tax net proceeds of $240 million, which will be used to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes.
Fox gets KCPQ-TV, the Fox affiliate in Seattle, KZJO, the MyNetwork TV affiliate in Seattle and WITI-TV, in Milwaukee, from Nexstar. Both markets feature popular NFL franchises, with the Seahawks in Seattle and the Packers in Green Bay.
Nexstar gets WKZY-TV, the Fox affiliate in Charlotte and WMYT-TV, the MyNetwork TV affiliate in Charlotte, from Fox.
“Since completing the Tribune Media transaction we’ve evaluated opportunities to optimize our portfolio with the goals of positioning us in markets that are complementary to existing operations or markets where we believe we can generate greater upside and potentially freeing up some national cap ownership space,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook.“
Sook noted that Charlotte is a fast-growing market and that the stations there complement Nexstar’s holdings in the mid-Atlantic region,
“These transactions also reduce Nexstar’s household reach by approximately 0.7% (reflecting the FCC’s UHF discount) allowing us to pursue other opportunistic transactions that strengthen our local market platform and service to viewers and businesses,” he said.
