promoguy98 254 Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 According to TVSpy, Nexstar agrees to purchase the small Grant station group. Here is a paste from the article. Nexstar Broadcasting is acquiring Grant Company, Inc. for $87.5 million. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, will add seven stations in four markets to Nexstar’s portfolio. The stations are WFXR and WWCW in Roanoke; WZDX in Huntsville, Ala.; KGCW and KLJB in Quad Cities, Iowa; and WLAX and WEUX in La Crosse, Wisc. After the Nexstar acquisition, Mission Broadcasting will purchase KLJB and subsequently enter into a local service agreement with Nexstar. “We believe the acquisition of these stations and the expanded scale they bring to our operations combined with our record of building new local direct client relationships, success in expanding local programming and consistent growth in digital media and political revenues, position Nexstar to continue building long-term shareholder value,” Nexstar CEO Perry A. Sook said in a statement. With the acquisition, Nexstar will own, operate, program or provide sales to 102 stations in 54 markets, reaching 15.5% of all U.S. television households. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Makes me wonder if they will be looking to "shell up" in a market like Huntsville since WZDZ currently has news produced by the Calkins ABC affiliate. I could see a situation where they may buy out / shell that affiliate, or at the very least, start their own newscast on the acquired station.
sanewsguy 514 Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 wow, what a surprise since Sinclair was the favorite for them. Makes sense though as they Nexstar is soon getting WHBF. Makes me wonder if they will be looking to "shell up" in a market like Huntsville since WZDZ currently has news produced by the Calkins ABC affiliate. I could see a situation where they may buy out / shell that affiliate, or at the very least, start their own newscast on the acquired station. I could actually see Nexstar making a play for WAAY. It would fit in their portfolio well and they would do much better than Calkins currently does with it.
promoguy98 254 Posted November 6, 2013 Author Posted November 6, 2013 wow, what a surprise since Sinclair was the favorite for them. Makes sense though as they Nexstar is soon getting WHBF. I could actually see Nexstar making a play for WAAY. It would fit in their portfolio well and they would do much better than Calkins currently does with it. Very true!! 31 sure needs a better facility and a massive investment into their product. Nexstar could begin to get them on the right track.
CircleSeven 1960 Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 DAMN!! WOW! I didn't see this coming. I strongly thought that this would've been Sinclair's one to beat. The Grant stations screamed Sinclair all over it. WFXR would be screaming under their favor, after acquiring Allbritton's WSET It's hard to put my finger on this because many of these Milton Grant stations were basically shell-bate, because none of these stations had an in-house newscast, as many of those broadcasts are outsourced. Basically meaning, One of the parent stations would've been more likely to acquire it and use it's shell partners to buy the license, instead of the parent company. This would get Nexstar almost all the markets in the state of Iowa, except for Cedar Rapids & Ottumwa/Kirksville. I assume Nexstar will continue to keep the news-produced agreement with MG's WSLS. But I do question what KLJB would be assigned by the Mission shell, unless they're trying to acquire one of the other station's in town. One the big-3 station's and KLJB would be within the top-4 highest rated stations. But Wait a minute, DAMN Why I didn't think of this until just now? Nexstar is buying CBS's station WHBF from the Citadel deal. With KLJB/KGCW, this would give them a triopoly in the Quads. Talk about a real underdog that could turn into a real player in that market. Although I'm really thrilled Sinclair didn't get this, is nothing short of shocking that Nexstar got it, nevertheless. An end of an era for the namesake "Grant" for a television company, since the days it owned Chicago's WGBO "Super 66", WGBS (now WPSG) Philly 57 and WBFS 33 in Miami. RIP Milton Grant.
GoldenShine9 1514 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 DAMN!! WOW! I didn't see this coming. I strongly thought that this would've been Sinclair's one to beat. The Grant stations screamed Sinclair all over it. WFXR would be screaming under their favor, after acquiring Allbritton's WSET It's hard to put my finger on this because many of these Milton Grant stations were basically shell-bate, because none of these stations had an in-house newscast, as many of those broadcasts are outsourced. Basically meaning, One of the parent stations would've been more likely to acquire it and use it's shell partners to buy the license, instead of the parent company. This would get Nexstar almost all the markets in the state of Iowa, except for Cedar Rapids & Ottumwa/Kirksville. I assume Nexstar will continue to keep the news-produced agreement with MG's WSLS. But I do question what KLJB would be assigned by the Mission shell, unless they're trying to acquire one of the other station's in town. One the big-3 station's and KLJB would be within the top-4 highest rated stations. But Wait a minute, DAMN Why I didn't think of this until just now? Nexstar is buying CBS's station WHBF from the Citadel deal. With KLJB/KGCW, this would give them a triopoly in the Quads. Talk about a real underdog that could turn into a real player in that market. Although I'm really thrilled Sinclair didn't get this, is nothing short of shocking that Nexstar got it, nevertheless. An end of an era for the namesake "Grant" for a television company, since the days it owned Chicago's WGBO "Super 66", WGBS (now WPSG) Philly 57 and WBFS 33 in Miami. RIP Milton Grant. Could the fact Sinclair lost out on WQAD and WHNT have been a factor in their decision to not go after the Grant stations, since they lost 2 of their 3 potential duopolies? I agree Nexstar would be prime for the Calkins stations, to avoid an island situation.
CircleSeven 1960 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Could the fact Sinclair lost out on WQAD and WHNT have been a factor in their decision to not go after the Grant stations, since they lost 2 of their 3 potential duopolies? I agree Nexstar would be prime for the Calkins stations, to avoid an island situation. And since you've said that, you were dead on. But I keep it open in case Sinclair was going to get it. And of course I was wrong. I could see Nexstar getting all of Calkins (not just WAAY, but WTXL & WWSB (even knock on Waterman's door and try to snag WBBH/WZVN)), and at least WKBT from Murphy, if not its flagship WISC as well. Like I said, it's kinda shady in Roanoke. I don't think Nexstar would want WFXR without a station that have a strong news department. Look what happen last year when they announced Nexstar getting the Newport Cali stations and three months later announce to acquire KSEE. Of course KSEE had better facilities than KGPE. I'm not saying that MG should give up WSLS. But it would even be a shock if Nexstar would possibly start its own in-house news department for Fox 21/27. Nexstar getting Grant is nothing short of shocking.
NewsMaster 226 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 I am so happy about this. I was almost certain that S!ncla!r was getting these.
tvjay 6 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 I am so happy about this. I was almost certain that S!ncla!r was getting these. Isn't Nexstar just as bad as Sinclair? I am just going off what I have heard.
GoldenShine9 1514 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Isn't Nexstar just as bad as Sinclair? I am just going off what I have heard. They aren't politically motivated and seem to at least be making efforts to improve their stations (especially their acquisitions), although they don't have a huge budget. They have not had too many (if any) huge blockbuster deals though and are practically absent from the big markets. Most their acquisitions have been with dog stations.
hathawaynson2 39 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Isn't Nexstar just as bad as Sinclair? I am just going off what I have heard. Nexstar is not politically motivated nor controversial, they making strides by improving morals and standards for television stations that they own and/or operate and treating employees with 100% dignity and respect. At least they are making good strides.
hathawaynson2 39 Posted November 7, 2013 Posted November 7, 2013 Isn't Nexstar just as bad as Sinclair? I am just going off what I have heard. Nexstar is not politically motivated nor controversial, they making strides by improving morals and standards for television stations that they own and/or operate and treating employees with 100% dignity and respect. At least they are making good strides. Besides, at least give nexstar credit for improving the quality of newscasts that every anchor does on a day to day basis and that does include the weekend news.
Samantha 2902 Posted November 8, 2013 Posted November 8, 2013 Nexstar has the ability to be a good steward of its stations (even though virtual duopolies do result in cuts) and knows when investments need to be made. The WATN investment was one of the wisest decisions I've seen in local television in quite some time. NXST saw that there was opportunity in Memphis, knew what they needed to reestablish competition, and went through with it. They've also learned from their mistakes in managing duopolies and have repented for the cancellation of news on WYOU. The former Citadel properties present some of the same opportunity for Nexstar, and their investments could be rewarded well. Compare that to Sinclair, which is a patchwork of station group structures and which has a tendency to not invest in its stations.
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted November 8, 2013 Posted November 8, 2013 They aren't politically motivated and seem to at least be making efforts to improve their stations (especially their acquisitions), although they don't have a huge budget. They have not had too many (if any) huge blockbuster deals though and are practically absent from the big markets. Most their acquisitions have been with dog stations. Nexstar did use to be notoriously cheap back in the day (ie: the 2000's), but within the past few years they realized that you actually do get a better Return on Investment when you actually do invest in the product instead of half-assing it like some ownership groups do. That and it has none of the political controversy that exists and don't cloud themselves with a political agenda like other station groups do with their stations.
GoldenShine9 1514 Posted November 8, 2013 Posted November 8, 2013 Nexstar has the ability to be a good steward of its stations (even though virtual duopolies do result in cuts) and knows when investments need to be made. The WATN investment was one of the wisest decisions I've seen in local television in quite some time. NXST saw that there was opportunity in Memphis, knew what they needed to reestablish competition, and went through with it. They've also learned from their mistakes in managing duopolies and have repented for the cancellation of news on WYOU. The former Citadel properties present some of the same opportunity for Nexstar, and their investments could be rewarded well. Compare that to Sinclair, which is a patchwork of station group structures and which has a tendency to not invest in its stations. None of the Grant stations have in-house newscasts and all are pretty saturated market-wise though. Most likely Nexstar would have to find a dancing partner somehow to make investments in them. In the Quad Cities, it is very possible combined with the Citadel acquisition, but they would need to also purchase Calkins and Morgan Murphy to make it work (and still be left out in Roanoke-Lynchburg with no obvious target). These were probably Sinclair bait until July 1, when Tribune beat them for the Local TV LLC stations, denying Sinclair what would become duopolies in the Quad Cities and Huntsville. As a result, without 2 of the 3 potential duopolies and a challenge in acquiring stations to make such work, they likely backed down.
sanewsguy 514 Posted November 8, 2013 Posted November 8, 2013 Here's what I see happening: Nexstar retains KLJB and WZDX. They (or Mission) buy WAAY 31 (and maybe the rest of the Calkins group as well). In Roanoke, assuming Sinclair gets WSET, Deerfield/Cunningham/Howard Stirk will buy Fox 21/27, and the Eau Claire stations will be bought by Excallibur (Gray shell). I can't see Nexstar keeping these stations and it will bring cash flow to the company if they want to aqcuire more stations in the future.
tyrannical bastard 4036 Posted November 9, 2013 Posted November 9, 2013 If Nexstar is serious about these stations, they could build them up (in markets where they are alone) to where they can hold their own and give the other stations a run for their money. Since they're all FOX stations, they can start newscasts in places where the big 3 stations can't (mornings 7-9 and primetime) and give viewers an alternative....and if that's successful, start competing directly with the big "3" stations in their timeslots. Based on their investment on getting WPTY (WATN) at a level of the other stations in Memphis, this is something they could do and with the right investment, and some patience, start something from the ground up instead of buying someone else to consolidate with. Plus, by doing so, it could earn them good favor with the FCC that they are willing to be another voice in a market by preserving diversity of voices, while in other markets, shelling themselves if it was a question of a particular station's survival or existence of a particular network affiliation....
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