Nexstar Broadcasting mulls selling itself

Nexstar Broadcasting Group, manager of television stations in the south and northeast US, says it's exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, reports Bloomberg.

Nexstar is among the top 20 broadcasting companies in the US with affiliates including NBC, CBS and Fox.

The company owns, operates, programmes or provides sales and other services to 65 television stations and related digital signals in 36 markets in 16 states and reaches approximately 13.5 million viewers in the US.

Earlier this month, it bought GoLocal.Biz, a provider of local business directory and other listings to Web sites, according to Chron Business News.

The company could sell for more than $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Reuters says that Nexstar's board of directors has decided to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives intended to maximise shareholder value, including a possible sale of the company.

The company was founded in 1996 by Perry Sook with the aim of consolidating network-affiliated TV stations in mid-size markets. It went public in 2003. Nexstar tried unsuccessfully to sell itself in 2007, a move that was spurred partly by private-equity interest in TV broadcasters, says The Wall Street Journal.

RTT News reports that Nexstar has not turned a profit in the past 10 years, but the company grew its 2010 revenue 24% to $313.4 million from the previous year. The company has been taking steps to reduce its roughly $630 million of debt, and its first-quarter results were helped by an improvement in the overall climate for national and local advertising.