Related: Perry Sook Is Taking Notes
When Nexstar and Media General pair up to become Nexstar Media Group, likely in late third quarter or early fourth quarter, the company will have a staggering 171 full-power broadcast stations in 100 markets, the most of any television group in the country, and reach 39% of U.S. households. It will represent for Nexstar the culmination of years of growth through aggressive acquisitions. Including pending transactions, Nexstar has acquired 66 TV stations and four digital businesses since 2011.
Here is how it all came together.
June 1996 Perry Sook founds Nexstar with a single station, WYOU in Scranton, Pa.
September 2003 Nexstar acquires Quorum Broadcasting, a Tennessee-based group with TV stations in 10 markets and local service agreements in four.
November 2003 Nexstar goes public.
April 2011 Acquires a pair of CBS affiliates from Liberty Media Corp. for $20 million: WFRV Green Bay-Appleton, Wis., and WJMN Marquette, Mich.
July 2012 Buys 12 stations from Newport Television for $286 million.
April 2013 Teams with Mission Broadcasting to purchase 19 stations from Communications Corp. of America and White Knight Broadcasting for $88 million.
September 2013 Teams with Mission to acquire three Citadel Communications stations and two Stainless Broadcasting stations for a total of $103 million.
November 2013 Acquires seven Grant Co. stations for $87.5 million.
December 2013 Acquires five stations from Gray Television for $33.5 million.
March 2014 Adds to its digital assets with a $20-million acquisition of Internet Broadcasting.
November 2014 Swings deal to acquire Landmark’s blue-chip KLAS Las Vegas for $145 million.
September 2015 Announces it will acquire four North Dakota stations from Reiten for $44 million. Offers unsolicited bid to buy Media General.
November 2015 Announces it will acquire four West Virginia Media stations for $130 million.
January 2016 Agrees to terms to acquire Media General for $4.6 billion.
