Nexstar Media Inc. Promotes Andrew Alford to President of Broadcasting Division, Effective June 1
Experienced Media Executive and Nexstar Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Will Lead Company’s 198 Owned and Operated Television Stations
IRVING, TX — Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), today announced that Andrew (Andy) Alford will be promoted to President of Broadcasting and will assume oversight responsibility for the long-term strategy and day-to-day operations of Nexstar’s 198 owned and operated television stations across the country and their related digital properties. Mr. Alford will begin his new duties on June 1 and report to Tom Carter, Nexstar President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Alford is taking over from Tim Busch, who is retiring on May 31 after more than 20 years with Nexstar.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Alford has consistently demonstrated the ability to grow revenue and profitability at the stations he has led by identifying new streams of revenue, cultivating new business, developing a variety of innovative cross-platform solutions for advertisers and marketers, creating sponsorship opportunities, establishing operational efficiencies, and deepening his ties to the local communities in which he has worked.
Mr. Alford joined Nexstar in January 2017, following the company’s acquisition of Media General, Inc. He has served as Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Nexstar’s Broadcasting Division since August 2017, overseeing the company’s television stations and digital properties in Chicago, Tampa, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and multiple stations in the Southeastern area of the United States.
“Andy is an accomplished leader who brings more than thirty years of experience in broadcast management, sales, local news, and programming to his new role at Nexstar,” said Mr. Carter. “He has achieved high levels of success throughout his career and has been instrumental in advancing Nexstar’s business objectives and sales leadership and has been responsible for overseeing a considerable number of markets with great success. Our strategy of appointing proven broadcast and digital media leaders with long-term records of delivering industry-leading innovation, distribution and core revenue growth, meticulous M&A integration and enterprise-wide cost management has been fundamental to our consistent ongoing success. Andy’s promotion to the executive management team reflects his outstanding performance and revenue results since he joined Nexstar. We are confident in Andy’s ability to further advance the growth of our Broadcast Division, while extending our legacy of delivering exceptional service to the local communities where we operate and value to our shareholders. We have strong operating teams and a transition plan in place that will benefit from Tim’s and the existing team’s support and will ensure Nexstar’s ongoing success.”
Prior to joining Nexstar, Mr. Alford was Vice President and General Manager of WFLA-TV and WTTA-TV, Media General’s NBC and MyNet affiliates serving the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, Florida area. Before assuming that role, he served as Media General’s Vice President of Sales, where he was responsible for sales strategies and operations and developed several sales training programs deployed across the company’s station group. He was also responsible for managing Media General’s business relationship with their national rep firms and worked on the transition team during corporate mergers and acquisitions. During and preceding his time as head of sales, Mr. Alford also served as Vice President and General Manager of WTEN-TV, a Media General television station, and WXAA-TV, under a shared services agreement with Shield Media. Both stations are located in Albany, NY.
“I am extremely grateful to Nexstar for giving me the opportunity to lead the nation’s largest broadcast station group,” said Mr. Alford. “I’m fortunate to be working with a skillful and experienced management team dedicated to growing ratings, revenue and profitability, while providing outstanding journalism and serving the local communities in which we operate. I look forward to working with the incredible group of broadcast professionals that comprise the Nexstar Nation and I’m confident we will build on the solid foundation we have established to achieve even greater success.”
Before joining Media General, Mr. Alford spent seven years in roles of increasing responsibility at WGCL-TV in Atlanta, GA, culminating in his appointment as Vice President and General Manager of the station. During his career, Mr. Alford also has served in broadcast management roles in the Orlando, FL, Syracuse, NY, and Rochester, NY, markets.
Mr. Alford grew up in Rochester, NY, and began his television career in sales at WHEC-TV. He has a long track-record of involvement in industry and community organizations, including the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation, The American Heart Association Heart Walk Cabinet Tampa Bay, Atlanta’s Make-A-Wish Foundation Board of Directors and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.
Mr. Alford and his wife, Nancy, will be relocating to the Irving, TX, area, where Nexstar’s corporate office is located.
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that leverages localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Nexstar Media Inc., consists of three divisions: Broadcasting, Digital, and Networks. The Broadcasting Division operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to 198 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 116 markets or approximately 39% of all U.S. television households (reflecting the FCC’s UHF discount). The division’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. The Digital Division operates 120 local websites and 284 mobile apps offering hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content and creating new revenue opportunities for the company. The Networks Division operates NewsNation, formerly WGN America, a national news and entertainment cable network reaching 75 million television homes, multicast network Antenna TV, and WGN Radio in Chicago. Nexstar also owns a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network, a top tier cable asset. For more information, please visit www.nexstar.tv.
Media Contact:
Gary Weitman
EVP & Chief Communications Officer
214/765-4239
gweitman@nexstar.tv
Investor Contact:
Joseph Jaffoni or Jennifer Neuman
JCIR
212/835-8500 or nxst@jcir.com
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