Last July, Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns WEHT Local and operates Local 7 WTVW under a shared services agreement with Mission Broadcasting, announced that it was exploring "strategic options," which could eventually lead to a possible sale of the company.
However, the uncertainty surrounding that possibility, as well as the company's loss of three Fox affiliations and a lucrative management contract in 2011, has led Standard & Poor's to keep Irving, Texas-based Nexstar on its CreditWatch list.
"Although the company has not made a decision to pursue any specific transaction, the situation results in considerable uncertainty regarding Nexstar's business and financial strategy," said S&P credit analyst Daniel Haines.
S&P put Nexstar on the list - with negative implications for the company’s debt ratings - right after the news broke that the company was looking toward possible future changes.
In addition to losing the important Fox affiliations at WTVW, WFFT in Ft. Wayne and what's now KOZL in Springfield, Mo., which are now being operated as independent stations, Nexstar lost its management contract with Four Points Media Group when Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased Four Points. However, S&P points to Nexstar's own purchase of three stations in the latter half of 2011 - one of those being the WEHT Local purchase, which closed at the beginning of December - as having "somewhat" mitigated the sting of losing Fox and the Four Points stations.
We'll see what happens next.
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